A breath of fresh air is how Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday described the Senate convening as an impeachment court for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, as he urged the public to be vigilant, especially when the trial proper begins.

“The stark contrast between the smell of gunpowder last week and the breath of fresh air in the Senate on Monday was evident when we convened as an impeachment court after all the parliamentary procedures were strictly followed. May the public vigilance remain unabated,” he said in a post on X.

Lacson said arrogance of power and impunity have their limits in the wake of last week’s events. “Arrogance of power, like impunity, has its limits,” he said over the weekend.

Trial process

Even as the Senate has convened as an impeachment court, it still has to follow a chronological process after receiving the verified Articles of Impeachment from the House of Representatives, meaning it cannot immediately begin the proceedings.

After convening as an impeachment court, a writ of summons will be issued to the impeached official, in this case, Vice President Duterte.

Duterte has a non-extendible period of 10 days to file a formal verified answer to the charges.

The Senate has allowed the electronic filing of all pleadings and motions related to the impeachment proceedings.

The trial will follow with some members of the House of Representatives acting as prosecutors and the senators serving as judges.

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro will head the 11-member prosecution team.

The Duterte camp has not released the names of its defense team.

After the presentation of evidence by the defense and prosecution panels, the senator-judges will vote on each article of impeachment via roll call. A conviction will require the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the senator-judges or 16 votes to convict.

A Senate source said the impeachment trial may begin in the second or third week of June.