Retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang answers questions from defense counsel Mark Vinluan during cross-examination on Day 24 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. Cabotaje-Tang is the House prosecution’s first witness under Article II, which covers allegations involving unexplained wealth, SALN disclosures and continued business interests.
Retired Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang denied Monday that she had been promised any benefit in exchange for appearing as a prosecution witness in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
During cross-examination on Day 24, defense counsel Mark Vinluan asked whether Cabotaje-Tang had been offered anything for taking the witness stand.
“No, sir. And I will never testify if I were ever offered anything, material or otherwise. My testimony is not for sale, sir,” Cabotaje-Tang replied.
Vinluan also asked whether she was seeking an ambassadorial post, but Cabotaje-Tang said she had retired and wanted to enjoy retirement.
The defense then examined her relationship with House prosecutor Chel Diokno after the Senate impeachment court’s subpoena for Cabotaje-Tang was served through Diokno’s office.
Cabotaje-Tang said she had known Diokno from her years at the Office of the Solicitor General, where they had appeared on opposing sides in writ of amparo cases. The Supreme Court has noted that Cabotaje-Tang spent about three decades at the OSG before joining the judiciary.
She became a Sandiganbayan justice in 2012 and later presiding justice in 2013, serving as head of the anti-graft court until her retirement in November 2024.
The defense also presented a photograph from a University of the Philippines Law event in questioning Cabotaje-Tang about previous encounters with Diokno. She identified herself in the photo and recalled giving an anti-corruption lecture at the event.
Diokno later corrected the record, saying he was not visible in the photograph even though his name appeared among the listed participants. Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero agreed that Diokno was not in the image.
Cabotaje-Tang is the prosecution’s first witness under Article II, which concerns allegations of unexplained wealth, false SALN declarations and prohibited business interests. Prosecutors said she was called to explain legal principles on public accountability and mechanisms for assessing undisclosed or unexplained wealth, rather than to testify from personal knowledge about Duterte’s finances.
The defense had earlier sought to exclude her testimony, but the impeachment court allowed her to take the stand, with Escudero stressing that her statements are not automatically binding on senator-judges and remain subject to cross-examination and evaluation.
Under the Constitution, the Senate has the sole power to try and decide impeachment cases, meaning the senator-judges ultimately determine what weight to give witness testimony and other evidence.