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Office of the Vice President chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez is spotted at the Senate on July 14, 2026, the fifth day of the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The Philippine STAR / Ryan Baldemor
MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution team asked the impeachment court to dispense with the testimonies of Vice President Sara Duterte's chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez and House security official Capt. Belinda Bello.
In a manifestation after the cross-examination of National Bureau of Investigation Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, prosecution lawyer Lorna Kapunan asked the tribunal to dispense with the witnesses, saying their testimonies would be redundant and unnecessary.
“We have said and I have said on behalf of the public prosecutors, your Honors, that we will no longer be presenting Attorney Zuleika Lopez," Kapunan said.
She also explained that Bello's testimony — she was slated to corroborate details regarding a detention center transfer order featured in a Nov. 23, 2024, video — is no longer necessary.
“She would have been presented only to corroborate the fact that there was a transfer order made in the detention center,” Kapunan said.
The subpoena for Lopez as a witness was supposed to be valid from July 13 to 14.
Lopez and Bello were set to be the third and fourth witnesses, respectively.
Lopez was supposed to testify on Duterte's remarks during a November 2024 Zoom press conference, where she threatened President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
However, Lotoc has been on the witness stand since July 13, when the defense and prosecution panels, as well as some senator-judges, questioned him on the authenticity of the documents the NBI submitted to the Department of Justice and on the elements of the crimes of inciting to sedition and grave threats.
With the presentation of the witnesses now dispensed with, the impeachment court is expected to hear oral arguments on July 15 regarding the "BIR Box," which was returned unopened to the Bureau of Internal Revenue on July 7.
The box contains the tax records of Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio.
