VP Sara Duterte's Impeachment Trial Opens With Key Court Rulings and Orders

At exactly 2:00 p.m. today, July 6, the Senate officially convened the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, marking the start of the 92-day proceedings. Here's what happened inside the impeachment court:

• Only 21 senators out of 24 senators were present during the proceedings, which initially opened under Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian.

• Gatchalian opened the session to elect the impeachment court's presiding officer. Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano argued that the Senate President should automatically serve as the presiding officer.

• However, Gatchalian clarified that a resolution had already been adopted allowing the senator-judges to elect a presiding officer. After deliberations, Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero was elected presiding officer with a 12-8 vote.

• In his opening statement, Presiding Officer Escudero said that a two-thirds vote, or 16 out of the 24 senators, is required to convict and remove VP Duterte from office. He also noted that either party may seek judicial relief if they disagree with the court's decision.

• The trial has started with the introduction of the prosecution and defense panels. Representative Gerville Luistro serves as the lead House prosecutor, while Attorney Sheila Sison leads the Vice President's defense team.

• Escudero noted that VP Duterte was not physically present but was being represented by her legal counsel.

• The presiding officer also ruled that the reading of the Articles of Impeachment would instead be done during the court's final resolution, when voting on each article takes place. The ruling came after Sison argued that reading the articles at the opening of the trial would be a “waste of judicial time.”

• Akbayan Rep. Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno later submitted the order of presentation of the Articles of Impeachment, following the sequence of Articles IV, I, III, and II.

• The impeachment court also ordered the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to return the sealed box containing the tax records of VP Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, without prejudice to any future action the court may take.

• Meanwhile, Sen. Cayetano urged the impeachment court to consider requesting the Sandiganbayan to allow Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta to attend the proceedings despite their pending cases.

• Escudero also ordered the issuance of a subpoena ad testificandum and a subpoena duces tecum to NBI-BARMM Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc and NBI Cyber Investigation and Assessment Center Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, requiring their appearance before the court and the submission of relevant records.

• The Senate impeachment court adjourned its session and is set to resume on Tuesday, July 7, at 2:00 p.m.

Article: Samuel Eneluna and John David Parol

Graphics: Justine Ceniza