A House prosecutor on Sunday stressed the urgent need to act on an impeachment trial, asserting that the continued stay in office of impeached officials provides them the means to obstruct or interfere with the legal process, jeopardizing both the case and public trust.

Although House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan did not explicitly allude to the Senate, his statement came amid the chamber’s apparent reluctance to start the impeachment proceedings of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is accused of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and other high crimes.

“The longer an impeachable official stays in power, the greater the risk of obstruction—whether through intimidation of witnesses, manipulation of the system, or other means to evade accountability,” Libanan lamented.

The veteran lawmaker, a lawyer, is part of the 11-man prosecution team against Duterte and is reportedly conducting mock trials as part of preparations for the upcoming proceedings in the Senate, scheduled for July.

"Taking swift action sends a strong message that wrongdoing will not be tolerated and will be met with decisive consequences," he asserted.

Libanan’s remarks followed Speaker Martin Romualdez’s reaffirmation of the House prosecution panel’s preparedness to work closely with the Senate to ensure a “transparent and credible impeachment trial.”

Romualdez said he expects the Senate to proceed with the trial “without unnecessary delays” and that it would conduct “a fair trial based on facts and evidence.”

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has repeatedly maintained that they will not start with the impeachment unless the 20th Congress takes over on 28 July or after 12 new senators are sworn in. The trial will subsequently start on 30 June.

Congress—comprising the House and the Senate—is currently on a four-month break for the mid-term election campaign. They will resume session on 2 June, after the 12 May polls, and convene as an impeachment court a day later.

Escudero, who has been trading barbs with the House prosecutors, has argued that holding a trial during recess “legally cannot be done” since the articles of impeachment were not referred to the plenary before they adjourned on 5 February.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on the same day, with 215 lawmakers, or more than double the required 1/3 votes (102 signatories), endorsing the impeachment complaint.

Aside from Libanan, pro-impeachment lawmakers have expressed concern that the continued resistance of the Senate to forthwith proceed with the trial only allows Duterte and her allies to “abuse” legal processes by seeking the intervention of the courts.

In February, Duterte and a group of Mindanao lawyers allied with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, petitioned the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the Senate’s trial of her impeachment case, which, if it leads to a conviction, could permanently bar her from holding public office.

They argued that the articles of impeachment were defective and rife with constitutional infirmities and thus must be nullified.

The articles of impeachment were anchored on Duterte’s alleged plot to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker Romualdez killed, as well as the purported misappropriation of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and the Department of Education during her tenure as its secretary.

Duterte has repeatedly denied the allegations, deeming it a “well-funded” and “coordinated political attack” to derail her future political ambitions. Duterte is seen as the frontrunner for the 2028 presidential elections and consistently leads surveys as a preferred successor to Marcos.