Former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo criticized Senate impeachment presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero's handling of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, accusing the presiding officer of allowing the proceedings to become a "propaganda proceeding" instead of a proper impeachment trial.

Speaking on ANC, Panelo claimed the prosecution was allowed to deliver what he described as a "prepared speech" against Duterte despite objections from the defense.

"I thought I was watching an impeachment trial. Instead, it was a propaganda proceeding," Panelo said.

He argued that Escudero committed an error by allowing the prosecution's opening remarks before ruling on the defense's objection.

"My God, the whole country heard it. How can you even strike that out?" he said.

Panelo also questioned the impeachment court's procedural rules limiting senator-judges to two minutes when asking questions.

He said the restriction runs contrary to the objective of an impeachment trial, which he argued is to uncover the truth.

"They're limiting the judges by two minutes. My goodness, don't they know they're a collegiate body just like the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan?" Panelo said.

"Questions should continue until they find the truth."

Despite frequently disagreeing with Sen. Risa Hontiveros politically, Panelo said he believed the senator-judge asked proper questions during the proceedings.

"I disagree with her on so many things, but her question was right," he said, referring to Hontiveros' inquiries about whether prosecutors had established the existence of an assassin and whether the alleged acts constituted an impeachable offense.

Panelo disclosed that he had spoken with Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian about the impeachment rules, claiming he advised the Senate President to amend them.

"I told him, 'Your rules are wrong, Mr. Senate President. You have to change that,'" Panelo said, adding that Gatchalian allegedly responded that he also believed changes were necessary.

The former presidential legal counsel likewise criticized the prosecution's presentation of witnesses to authenticate video footage of Duterte's controversial remarks, saying the video's authenticity was never disputed by the defense.

He argued that both parties could have stipulated its authenticity during pre-trial to avoid unnecessary testimony.

"They wasted the time of the people and the court listening to someone authenticate something that was never questioned," Panelo said.

According to him, presenting witnesses to authenticate the video unnecessarily prolonged the proceedings and opened the prosecution to cross-examination that he believes benefited the defense.

Panelo also questioned why prosecutors chose to begin presenting evidence under Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment instead of proceeding sequentially.

"There are four articles of impeachment. Why did they start with the last one?" he said.

He suggested the prosecution may not yet have witnesses prepared for the earlier articles.

Looking ahead to the continuation of the trial, Panelo said calling former Office of the Vice President chief of staff Zuleika Lopez as a witness could strengthen the defense's narrative that Duterte and her staff were subjected to oppression.

He also reiterated his long-held position that Duterte's controversial statement regarding President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was "conditional and hypothetical" and therefore did not constitute a criminal threat.

"It is not a threat because it is conditional and hypothetical," Panelo said.