NEW FROM MCT · CONTINUING RECORDThe Sara Duterte Impeachment TrialFollow the hearing day by day, read the documents in plain language and see what each side says, what remains disputed and what the courts have actually decided.I’m still working through parts of the record. Published material is based on documents already reviewed, and anything awaiting confirmation is clearly marked.Open the tracker →

LATEST COMMENTARY

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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

7:47 AM3-minute read

ABOUT WHAT BANK SECRECY PROTECTS IN AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

The arguments over bank records in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial involve several protections. The privacy of a peso deposit, the protection of a foreign-currency deposit, and the confidentiality of a report sent to the AMLC come from different rules. Understanding those differences helps explain what the court has allowed and what remains in dispute.

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8:43 AM8-minute read

ABOUT THE AMLC RECORDS IN SARA DUTERTE’S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

₱4.4 billion is a figure that can dominate a conversation before anyone asks what it counts. AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura presented that approximate total in the Senate impeachment court on October 5, covering reported transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio. He also explained that a bank correction had reduced the earlier figure of ₱6.7 billion.

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6:44 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE COINS.PH CASH-IN RESTRICTION AND WHAT USERS SHOULD CHECK

If you use Coins.ph to receive money or pay bills, a failed cash-in can disrupt plans for the day. Coins.ph has announced that some incoming peso services are temporarily unavailable following a BSP directive to improve its internal controls. Its advisory also identifies services that existing customers can still use.

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12:00 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE PROPOSED RULES ON SECONDHAND PHONES

A secondhand phone can put a useful device within reach of someone who cannot afford a new one. The problem comes when the buyer has no clear information about where it came from, what condition it is in, or who will fix it if it fails.

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8:35 PM6-minute read

ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION ON THE IMPEACHMENT VOTE THRESHOLD

The Supreme Court dismissed three petitions on September 30 challenging how the Senate impeachment court would count the votes needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte. The dismissal leaves the Senate’s September 23 ruling in place, but it needs to be read carefully. A case can be dismissed because it does not meet the requirements for the Court to hear it, without settling whether the challenged action is constitutional.

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6:12 AM6-minute read

ABOUT WHAT BASTE DUTERTE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED AS MAYOR

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte told the Senate impeachment court on September 29 that he had been unfamiliar with GenCorp Industries Inc. before it came up in the proceedings. He also said he did not know about Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared business interest in the company.

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10:45 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE OCTOBER WATER-RATE INCREASES

Metro Manila households served by Maynilad and Manila Water will see slightly higher water charges beginning October 1. The announced increases are small for many residential customers, but the figures vary by concessionaire and consumption level. That makes it easy to misunderstand a notice expressed only in centavos per cubic meter.

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7:21 AM6-minute read

ABOUT THE NOTE HANDED TO GIBO TEODORO IN SEOUL

Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. was answering questions at the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 8 when a man handed him a note. He read it aloud, challenged its rejection of the 2016 South China Sea ruling and objected to being interrupted that way.

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9:55 AM8-minute read

ABOUT EL NIÑO AND PREPARING FOR LESS RAIN

It can be raining outside while PAGASA warns about El Niño. That can sound confusing when the immediate problem is a wet road or a flooded field. The two warnings describe different periods: the weather happening now and the rainfall conditions that may develop over the coming months.

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5:30 AM8-minute read

ABOUT THE NEW ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST ZALDY CO, MARTIN ROMUALDEZ AND TWO OTHERS

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of Zaldy Co, Martin Romualdez and two other accused in the plunder case filed on September 7. By Monday evening, authorities had served Romualdez's warrant and carried out booking procedures at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan. His arrest is a confirmed development; it does not establish that his three co-accused are also in custody.

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3:15 PM8-minute read

ABOUT THE PLUNDER CASE AGAINST MARTIN ROMUALDEZ

The Office of the Ombudsman filed a plunder case against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez at the Sandiganbayan on September 7 over his alleged involvement in flood-control kickbacks. The accusations have now reached the court that will handle the criminal case. Romualdez denies wrongdoing and remains presumed innocent.

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1:18 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE NEW SWS POVERTY NUMBERS

Self-rated poverty and food poverty declined in June, but the figures also show how many Filipino families remain under pressure and why lower household budgets do not necessarily mean life became cheaper.

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2:02 PM11-minute read

ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ACT

House Bill No. 9965 would bar children below 13 from having social media accounts, require parental consent for users aged 13 to 17, regulate platform algorithms, and impose fines reaching P50 million. It is still being deliberated in the House.

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12:02 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE SEALED BIR BOX

Marcos authorized the BIR to comply with the Senate subpoena. That did not open the records to the public or prove the unexplained-wealth allegation.

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MCT READER PULSE · MCT-PULSE-2026-010

MCT READER SURVEY

If the Philippine presidential election were held today, who would you vote for as President and Vice President?

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October 7, 2026 · 9:08 PM3-minute read

ABOUT WHAT COA’S REJECTION OF THE OVP APPEAL MEANS

COA has rejected the request to reconsider the ₱73.287-million disallowance involving the Office of the Vice President’s December 2022 confidential expenses. The October 5 resolution became public on October 7. Its significance is easier to understand when the amount, the audit finding and the available legal remedies are kept separate.

First page of COA Decision No. 2026-554 dated October 5, 2026. Credit: Commission on Audit, via Bistado.
1

This is a new ruling on an existing disallowance

Decision No. 2026-554 denies the motion for reconsideration filed by Sara Duterte, special disbursing officer Gina Acosta and chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey. It leaves standing COA’s April 10, 2026 decision, which had upheld the notice of disallowance issued on August 8, 2024.

WHAT TO WATCH

The spending period identified in the resolution is December 21–31, 2022. The development today is the rejection of reconsideration, not the first discovery of the disputed expenses. That distinction matters when reading claims that the entire audit case began this week.

2

The amount is ₱73.287 million, not the entire ₱125 million

The disallowance covers ₱69.787 million recorded as rewards and ₱3.5 million for office furniture and equipment. Together, they total ₱73.287 million. The rewards component includes cash, goods and medicines.

WHAT TO WATCH

The OVP received a ₱125-million confidential-fund allocation that December, but this particular disallowance does not declare all ₱125 million disallowed. Later spending periods and the wider amounts raised in the impeachment case must also be kept separate. Combining them without explaining their scope makes the audit finding harder to understand.

3

COA found that the supporting records did not justify the spending

Reporting on the resolution says COA found the reward payments inadequately supported and distinguished regular work by salaried security personnel from qualifying information supplied by outside informers. Acknowledgment receipts alone did not meet the required proof. The equipment expenses also remained disallowed.

WHAT TO WATCH

COA’s rejection leaves the audit liability of Duterte, Acosta and Villadelrey standing. An audit disallowance concerns whether public spending was lawful and adequately supported, and who must answer for it. It should not be rewritten as a finding that every peso was stolen or as a criminal conviction for a named offense.

4

“With finality” does not erase Supreme Court review

COA has disposed of the reconsideration request. Its rules ordinarily allow only one motion for reconsideration. A challenge to a COA decision can still be brought to the Supreme Court through the appropriate petition under Rule 64 in relation to Rule 65, subject to the procedural requirements.

WHAT TO WATCH

Filing that petition does not automatically stop execution. Rule 64 and COA’s amended procedural rules require an order from the Supreme Court for a stay. On October 7, the OVP said it had not yet received the resolution and was preparing legal and institutional remedies. Announcing a challenge does not mean it has been filed or that a restraining order has been granted.

5

It matters to impeachment, but it does not decide impeachment

The audit findings are part of the confidential-funds dispute already examined in the Senate trial. The rejection of reconsideration leaves standing the audit decision that the parties must address. It does not itself remove the vice president or direct the senator-judges how to vote.

WHAT TO WATCH

Under the Constitution, the Senate tries impeachment cases. Criminal prosecution is a separate process. Readers should therefore look for the precise decision in each forum: what COA disallowed, what a reviewing court orders, and what the Senate ultimately decides on the charge before it.

BOTTOM LINE

A serious audit finding deserves accurate treatment without turning it into a judgment that another institution has not made.

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