Davao City assessor confirms China trip with city officials during Sara Duterte trial

Davao City Assessor Jaime Adalin, the first witness presented by the defense in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, confirmed on Monday, November 9, that he went to China in January 2026 with several Davao City officials, according to Philstar.com. The admission came after senator-judges confronted him with his travel records.

Adalin said the city engineer, the city treasurer and a city administrator were on the trip, and that the group had secured official travel authorities. Answering questions from Senator Risa Hontiveros, he said Duterte was not among those who travelled. Prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa had earlier called the visit an "all-expense-paid trip."

Adalin initially had trouble recalling details of his overseas travel, prompting Senator Raffy Tulfo to read from the records, Philstar reported. Tulfo also cited a November 2018 trip to China and travel to Hong Kong, Thailand and Australia, including a 2023 Australia trip with a relative. He asked how Adalin, who earns about P120,000 a month as a city department head, could afford frequent trips abroad.

Adalin said the travels were paid for with "personal money," but could not name the travel agency that handled the group's bookings. Hontiveros questioned how an assessor used to working with complex property maps could not recall where he had gone in China only 10 months earlier. Adalin said he was not keen on travelling.

Senator Kiko Pangilinan separately raised what he described as inconsistencies in Adalin's testimony on a property linked to Duterte's Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Adalin first said with certainty that a lot under a transfer certificate of title ending in 0775 was the residential property declared in the SALN. When shown street-view photos of a restaurant, Prime Bistro, operating at the site, he said he was not sure. After the lunch break, he said he had checked with his staff and confirmed it was the same lot.

Adalin was called to testify on property records related to Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which alleges that Duterte did not fully disclose her assets and liabilities.