Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

The Senate of the Philippines convene as an impeachment court on its second day of the trial against Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. House prosecutors presented National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilong, who had conducted a forensic examination of a video of Vice President Sara Duterte uttering death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on November 23, 2024.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

VP Sara Impeachment

David Dizon

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178347396079620260707-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-day2-MT19.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">House prosecutors on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, presented National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilong, who had conducted a forensic examination of a video of Vice President Sara Duterte uttering death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on November 23, 2024.<em> Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Defense lawyers of Vice President Sara Duterte will have a chance to fire back when it cross-examines NBI agent-on-case John Mark Calilung on the third day of the impeachment trial on Wednesday.</p><p>Jose Roy III, ex-defense lawyer of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, said presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero is expected to grant the same degree of leniency given to the prosecution when the defense presents its own evidence and cross-examines Calilung.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/7/wrap-prosecution-presents-videos-nbi-agent-on-duterte-s-alleged-threats-vs-marcos-2126">WRAP: Prosecution presents videos, NBI agent on Duterte’s alleged threats vs. Marcos</a></div><p>Roy said some of the prosecution’s statements were not evidentiary in nature and would not have been permitted in a  regular court but were still allowed by the presiding officer.</p><p>“Kung maraming political insights at mga maka-emosyonal na statements na sinabi yung prosekusyon, gaganti yan [defense] bukas at magsasalita din ng mga bagay para magkaroon din tayo ng malinaw na ideya at maramdaman din natin yung nararamdaman ng depensa at ni Vice President Sara,” he said in a DZMM interview.</p><p>Roy said the prosecution is limited on the type of questions they can ask during direct examination while the defense is wide open on what it can ask during cross. Even the senator-judges can cross-examine the witness, he said.</p><p>“Pwede mong bombahin yung witness. Pwede mong tanungin kahit background, kung ano ‘yung pulitika niya…sa direct, hindi ganoon kadali.”</p><p>He praised both camps for coming prepared for the trial, saying that both sides are doing their best to get their message across.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>UNRESOLVED AT PRE-TRIAL  </strong></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178347382427520260707-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-day2-MT16.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">House prosecutors on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, presented National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilong, who had conducted a forensic examination of a video of Vice President Sara Duterte uttering death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on November 23, 2024.<em> Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>In a separate interview, Domingo Egon Cayosa, a constitutional law expert and past president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said the slowness of the trial could be a sign that both camps failed to settle some of the issues during the pre-trial conference. </p><p>He pointed out that the veracity of the video evidence presented during Tuesday’s trial could have been settled during the pre-trial but had to be tackled by the impeachment court. </p><p>The prosecution earlier aired a 2-minute clip of Duterte’s threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and 2 others but the defense wanted the entire 2-hour video aired.</p><p>“Hindi naman lingid sa kaalaman ng lahat yang video na yan. Mukhang hindi nakuhang mag-stipulate o mag agree yung mga parties. Yung mga bagay na yan, it should greatly abbreviate the presentation of evidence,” he said. </p><p>In the interview, Roy said that since the trial is just starting, he expected the lawyers to test how far they could go in terms of presenting their side in the impeachment court.</p><p>This was evident when the defense raised numerous objections throughout Day 2 of the trial while prosecutor Amando Ligutan was able to deliver his own remarks while being questioned by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LUUVyeQdbio?&amp;t=50s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>“This is the beginning stage, maaga pa lang. Kung ako man yung abogado, pipilitin ko hanggang saan ko kayang dalhin, saan ko kayang maisagad yung pasensiya ng hukom. Te-testing-in ko ‘yan how far can I go, hanggang saan ako aabot,” he said.</p><p>“If you are able to bring out the story in an emotional way, in a way that keeps you thinking, that moves you in a way na hind mo matiis, na ikaw ay apektado dun sa pagkapresenta ng kanilang storya, diyan mo makukuha yung boto.”</p><p>He added that while Escudero will try to ensure fairness, both sides will know the degree of leniency granted by the presiding officer.</p><p>The challenge, he said, is that aside from appealing emotionally and intellectually to the senator-judges, both camps are also making their presentations before the public who will make their own judgments about the trial. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>VP SARA&#x27;S VISIT</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178347408309920260707-senate-impeachment-sara-diuterte-MT3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Vice President Sara Duterte arrives at the Senate on the second day of the impeachment trial on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Duterte gave a one-sentence statement saying that she would be &quot;bloodied but unbowed&quot; before heading out for a quick meeting with her legal team, who, according to her, advised her not to answer any questions from the press. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></strong>In the interview, Roy said he was also surprised by Duterte’s visit to the Senate on Tuesday, which he said could have been way of testing the waters on how her appearance would affect the Upper Chamber.</div><p>He added: “I think at a later point, it would be wise na magpakita si VP doon.”</p><p>Roy said he is not worried about the impeachment court’s one witness-a-day rule, saying things could speed up later in the trial. </p><p>What worries him is when the prosecution starts to present the thousands of documents as evidence against Duterte. “Iisa-isahin ba nila yan?”</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RHQ_ngQKrIk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WQkzXEejcQQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rPBJod49teM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Defense lawyers of Vice President Sara Duterte will have a chance to fire back when it cross-examines NBI agent-on-case John Mark Calilung on the third day of the impeachment trial on Wednesday.</p>

Defense lawyers of Vice President Sara Duterte will have a chance to fire back when it cross-examines NBI agent-on-case John Mark Calilung on the third day of the impeachment trial on Wednesday.

Impeachment Day 3: Defense to strike back during cross-examination

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Impeachment Day 3: Defense to strike back during cross-examination

David Dizon,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 08, 2026 09:30 AM PHT

Read More:

sara duterte

impeachment

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