Senate court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday rejected the House prosecution panel’s attempt to immediately compel Vice President Sara Duterte to personally appear before the Senate impeachment court, saying the respondent is not required to attend the proceedings as long as she is represented by counsel.

The issue arose after Duterte made a brief visit to the Senate earlier in the day for a closed-door meeting with her defense team, where she told reporters, “In this bloodbath and bludgeoning, I will be bloodied but unbowed.”

During the second day of the impeachment trial, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan asked if Duterte intended to appear before the court, saying the prosecution was considering requesting her testimony as a hostile witness in connection with the first article of impeachment which accuses her of making grave threats and acts of sedition.

“If the Vice President is in the premises, does she intend to appear personally before this impeachment court?” Kapunan asked.

She said the prosecution will file a written request for Duterte’s appearance, arguing that the Vice President herself is a key witness on the first article of impeachment.

“One of the key witnesses, by hostile, would be the Vice President. We will manifest that we will have a written request for her presence in connection with the article on grave threats,” Kapunan said.

The first article of impeachment accuses Duterte of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution over her November 2024 public statement where she allegedly instructed someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then House Speaker Martin Romualdez if anything happened to her.