Dev Flores

For House Lead Public Prosecutor Gerville Luistro, it’s not surprising when the defense team skips the cross-examination of the two witnesses regarding the alleged misuse of confidential funds.

The two witnesses who appeared before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, were both former branch managers of the LandBank of the Philippines — Violeta Contantino of the Shaw Boulevard branch and Nenita Camposano of the DepEd branch.

“Ako, hindi ako na-surprise because the subject matter of the testimony is the encashment of the check and it is completely documented, noh? So how else will you conduct a cross-examination on these witnesses who are merely testifying on the process that was done concerning the encashment?” Luistro said

[“I wasn’t surprised because the subject matter of the testimony is the encashment of the check and it is completely documented, right? So how else will you conduct a cross-examination on these witnesses who are merely testifying on the process that was done concerning the encashment?”]

According to Defense Panel Spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa, they limit the cross-examination to the witnesses of the prosecution on Day 10 of the impeachment trial as a part of their legal strategy.

House Prosecution Panel Member and Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor is delighted with the defense panel’s move.

“Yun sana ang gusto natin na maintindihan ng mga tao, sa simpleng paraan na hindi na nating kailangang palawigin pa,” he said

[“That’s what we want the public to understand, in a simple way without needing to prolong it.”]

The lawmaker also characterized the testimonies of the two LandBank branch managers as a good start.

“Sa palagay namin, mahusay na simula ito. Sa simula’t simula palang, ang mga banko na pinaggalingan ng 612.5 million na cash ay unusual, and like I said, unusual is a perfect start for confidential funds,”

[“We think this is a great start. From the very beginning, the 612.5 million cash from the banks was unusual, and like I said, unusual is a perfect start for confidential funds.”]

Next week, two officials from the Commission on Audit (COA) are set to appear in the impeachment court and take the witness stand regarding the audit of the confidential funds spending of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) when VP Duterte was a Secretary at that time.

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Meralco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manny V. Pangilinan expressed willingness to collaborate with the government regarding the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to remove system loss charges from the electric bills of consumers.

However, he questioned who would shoulder the cost if the system loss charge is completely removed from the electricity bills.

System loss occurs when power travels through transmission lines, but it does not mean that operations are inefficient.

Pangilinan added that if the system losses are scrapped, power industry companies will be forced to shoulder the costs from generation, transmission, and distribution. For him, this is not a small matter as it could cost billions of pesos just in case they pay the charge.

Recently, the collection of system loss charges has been mandated by law. Several lawmakers aim to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) before the implementation of the complete removal of such charges from the consumer’s electric bills.

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is continuing its investigation into the alleged death threat received by Senator Risa Hontiveros.

In line with this, the NBI has detected a group chat containing threats against the Senator and other personalities.

According to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, they have observed what allegedly appears to be a pattern in the reports of threats they have received.

“It's creating a pattern na parang ang dali-daling manakot eh,”  he said

[“It's creating a pattern that makes it seem so easy to make threats.”]

“After na namatay si Mima, yung isang vlogger, may mga sinasabing isunod ng patayin ‘tong mga tao na ‘to and there are personalities  including nga diyan (yung) Presidente,” he added

[“After Mima, the vlogger, died, comments were saying that these other people should be killed next, and there are personalities included there, including the President.”]

The NBI Director also revealed that he has been receiving threats against his own life.

He also added that this behavior should not become a habit for anyone.

“Yun na yung nagiging norms — that's exactly what I'm saying that we have to stop,” he said

[“That’s becoming the norm — that’s exactly what I'm saying that we have to stop.”]

“Lumaki tayo nung nakita natin yan, pag may namatay tayong kapitbahay, kahit hindi natin kasundo nakikiramay tayo. But this time, ang wish natin pag may namatay, dapat mamatay na susunod ko. I think that should not be the norm,” Matibag said

[Upon growing up, when our neighbor passed away, even if we weren’t on good terms with them, we expressed our condolences. But this time, when someone dies, the wish is for the next person to die too.”]

The NBI is prepared to summon anyone identified as involved in issuing these death threats.

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) aims to wrap up the investigation into the alleged anomalies in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games within a month.

“We’re intending to wrap it up in 3 to 4 weeks lang kasi malinaw naman yung ebidensya,” NBI Director Matibag said

[We’re intending to wrap it up in just 3 to 4 weeks because the evidence is already clear.”]

According to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, they have already seen clear evidence regarding the case. He added that out of the seven individuals summoned by the bureau, one has already responded to the subpoena.

Besides, the bureau is still awaiting documents to be submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commission on Audit (COA) that may help in the ongoing investigation.

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Meralco is appealing to the government to thoroughly study the impact of the proposed removal of the system loss charge on electricity rates.

In an official statement, Meralco said it respects the proposals and policy direction of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regarding plans to amend the Electric Power Industry Act (EPIRA).

However, the company explained the importance of the system loss charge in maintaining continuous and smooth operations within the proper supply distribution network.

“We believe it is important to recognize that system loss charge is not unique to any distribution utility but is a common operational aspect of the delivery of electricity — which affects the entire power industry,” according to Meralco

The power distributor added that while it continues to invest in modernizing and  upgrading technologies to minimize system loss charges, technical losses remain necessary to maintain ongoing operations.

“While distribution utilities like Meralco continue to invest in modernizing and upgrading facilities and deploying technologies that reduce system losses, a certain level of technical losses remains inherent in operating an electric distribution system,” Meralco said

To ensure genuine benefits for consumers, Meralco emphasized that it is necessary to consider the support and stability for distribution utilities.

The company expressed readiness to collaborate and engage in dialogue with the government on the issue to uphold consumer protection and to stabilize the power industry.