May 29, 2025
MANILA – The Senate is all set for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Four days before the resumption of Congress next week, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug laid down the chamber’s plan—from the pre-trial period to the proper impeachment trial scheduled to start on July 30.
As early as February, Bantug was named Clerk of Court of the impeachment court that is yet to convene next week.
Presentation of Articles of Impeachment
At the resumption of Congress on June 2, the Senate will open its regular session at 3 pm. At 4 pm, the Senate will recognize the House of Representatives’ panel of prosecutors to read the charges against Duterte.
According to Bantug, the scenario that he is proposing is that the Senate Majority Leader will state for the record that the House prosecutors are present in the Senate.
“And then the Senate President will say: The panel of prosecutors is hereby received and will be escorted to the well of the Senate, meaning the 2nd floor,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.
The session hall where the impeachment court would be held is located on the second floor of the Senate building in Pasay City.
Bantug said he proposes to escort the prosecution team to the VIP gallery of the session hall until recognized by the Senate chief.
“When the Senate president says that the panel of prosecutors is hereby received and will be escorted to the well of the Senate, they will be led by the pages, just in front of the VIP gallery. They will stand there, and then the Senate president will just say: ‘The panel of prosecutors may proceed,’” he explained.
It would now be up to the prosecutors to decide if only one of them would read the charges against Duterte.
“For me, if the Senate President would ask med, it’s up to them if they want to assign the seven articles to seven different speakers,” Bantug said.
Allegations against Duterte
The complainants, composed of at least one-third of the members of the House, listed seven articles of impeachment against Duterte:
Article 1. Respondent betrayed the public trust, committed culpable violations of the Constitution and/or committed high crimes in contracting an assassin and plotting to murder or assassinate the incumbent president, the first lady, and speaker of the House of Representatives, as publicly admitted by her in a live broadcast.
Duterte allegedly made the threat in an online press briefing in November 2024.
READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace
“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘Kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako,” the Vice President said then.
(I already talked to a person. I told the person, ‘If they kill me, kill Bongbong Marcos, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke. I’ve left instructions.)
Article II. Respondent betrayed the public trust and/or committed graft and corruption in her misuse and malversation of confidential funds appropriated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
The alleged misuse of confidential funds by the OVP and the DepEd, which was previously headed by Duterte, was investigated by the House.
READ: Sara Duterte told: Don’t hit House, explain funds misuse raps instead
Article III. Respondent betrayed the public trust and/or committed bribery and/or other acts of graft and corruption in violation of Republic Act No. 3019.
Article IV. Respondent committed culpable violations of the Constitution and/or betrayal of public trust in amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all her properties and interests in Properties in her statement of assets and net worth in Violation of Section 17, Article XI Of The 1987 Philippine Constitution.
Article V. Respondent committed other high crimes, including the high crime of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Article VI. Respondent, by herself and/or in concert with others, committed acts of destabilization constituting, at least, a betrayal of public trust and/or culpable violations of the Constitution, and even the high crimes of sedition and insurrection.
Article VII. The totality of respondent’s conduct as Vice-President, including her Commission of the foregoing acts, clearly displays conduct constituting a betrayal of public trust, culpable violations of the 1987 Constitution, and graft and corruption.
Convening of the impeachment court
Bantug said that after the charges are read in the plenary on June 2, the Senate president will announce the convening of the impeachment court the next morning.
At 9 a.m. on June 3, still in a plenary set up, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero will choose the person to administer his oath as the presiding officer.
Escudero, on the other hand, will administer the oaths of all other senator-judges. All of them should be wearing their impeachment robes, according to Bantug.
Bantug expects the first day of the impeachment trial to last a little over an hour, including the issuance of the summons.
“Essentially, that’s it. Just the summons, just to set things in motion,” he pointed out.
Duterte’s impeachment trial
Escudero earlier proposed that the pre-trial period should be conducted from June 3 to July 25.
READ: Escudero bares proposed calendar of Sara Duterte impeachment trial
During this period, Bantug said, any submission may be done through his office.
“It doesn’t have to be done in the court. It’s an administrative matter, not a judicial one,” he added.
The present 19th Congress will end on June 30, while the 20th Congress will open on July 28.
Based on Escudero’s proposal, the impeachment trial will commence on July 30 with the new set of senators sitting as judges in the impeachment court.
According to Bantug, a total of 340 people may be accommodated in the session hall, including the public, guests of senators, prosecution and defense, staff of the Senate, and media.
A Visitors Management System has also been set up where all guests can register and reserve seats online. A QR (quick response) code will be generated to verify the seats and information of the guests.
“So that there’s no need for human intervention. No one can accuse us of favoring one group over the other… Even the seating has been carefully arranged,” Bantug said.