SHERIFF SAYS NO. BACKS OUT AS WITNESS IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL.

The refusal of former Davao City court sheriff Abe Andres to testify in Vice President Sara Duterte's looming impeachment trial significantly impacts both the prosecution's strategy and the public narrative surrounding her trial: ​Weakens the Prosecution's "Behavioral Pattern" Strategy: The House prosecution team specifically included Andres on their final witness list to support Article 4 of the impeachment complaint, which accuses the VP of making grave threats and contracting an assassination plot against top government officials. His testimony was meant to legally establish a historical "propensity to resort to violence" and a culture of impunity, drawing a direct line from the infamous 2011 punching incident to her recent public statements. Without his first-hand testimony, proving this specific behavioral pattern becomes much more challenging. ​A Shift to Alternative Evidence: Because Andres requested to be excluded from what he called "partisan political matters," the prosecution will have to rely heavily on other listed witnesses—such as NBI officials, security directors, and a designated psychiatrist—as well as the archived 2011 television footage itself to demonstrate the VP's conduct. ​Reinforces the Defense's Narrative: For the defense, the sheriff's reluctance to participate undermines the prosecution’s attempt to weaponize a 15-year-old local incident during a national impeachment trial. It allows the defense to argue that the 2011 altercation—for which Duterte publicly apologized in 2012—is being artificially revived as a political tool rather than serving as relevant material evidence.