Lawyer Amando Virgil D. Ligutan stepped into the national spotlight on July 7, 2026, when he presented video evidence during the second day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial before the Senate. He played clips in which Duterte spoke of a “toxic” relationship with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., described imagining cutting off his head, and issued a warning about digging up the body of the late former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. — material tied to Article IV of the impeachment case, which accuses Duterte of grave threats against the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Ligutan serves as one of the private prosecutors deputized to assist the House prosecution panel, a role announced when the House unveiled its first batch of pro bono lawyers on June 11, 2026. The private prosecutors were brought on to help the House team prepare witnesses, evidence, pleadings, and trial strategy, though House lead prosecutor and Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro has stressed that the House panel leads the prosecution. He is joined on the private roster by veteran litigators including Lorna Kapunan and Theodore Te.
Before the trial, Ligutan was counsel for one of the impeachment complainants — specifically the third of the complaints filed against Duterte. He is the managing partner of the Cebu-based firm Sapayan Lim Alvarez & Ligutan (SALiGAL) Law, which he joined in 2010 after working as a junior associate at Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz (ACCRA) Law Offices. A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law, he now teaches there as a senior lecturer and also lectures at the University of San Jose-Recoletos and the University of Cebu, with expertise spanning labor law, remedial law, and public international law.
Ligutan has said his decision to join the prosecution was driven by the case of a public school principal in Virac, Catanduanes, who he said was ordered imprisoned for 11 years over P5,000. His argument: if a person can be jailed that long for pocketing P5,000, a sitting vice president accused of misusing millions of pesos in public funds should be answerable before the court. Duterte faces four articles of impeachment covering confidential funds, unexplained wealth, corruption, and the alleged threats. Conviction on any single article requires the votes of at least 16 of the 24 senator-judges.
