Senate weighs afternoon schedule for Duterte impeachment trial

The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte may be moved to the afternoon starting September as senators seek to balance the proceedings with their legislative duties, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Saturday.

Lacson, a senator-judge in the impeachment court, said the prevailing view among members of the Senate majority is to hold regular legislative sessions in the morning and devote the afternoon to the trial, potentially extending proceedings into the evening.

“At least in the majority group, this is the dominating sentiment. We will hold legislative sessions in the morning so the impeachment trial would not be cut short. It is a more practical setup,” Lacson said in a radio interview.

Under the proposed arrangement, Senate sessions could run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Monday to Wednesday, followed by the impeachment trial beginning at 2:30 p.m. and running until at least 7:30 p.m.

Lacson said there would be no strict requirement for the trial to end at 7:30 p.m., adding that proceedings could continue until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. if necessary.

The proposal is expected to be discussed formally at a senators’ caucus next week, with members of the minority bloc also to be consulted.

If approved, the new schedule could be announced by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, who is presiding over the impeachment court, on Wednesday, 26 August.

Lacson said the court normally announces the following week’s trial schedule on Wednesdays to give both prosecution and defense time to prepare.

The impeachment trial is currently being held on weekday mornings following the reopening of Congress. Earlier, the Senate impeachment court had been conducting proceedings from Monday to Wednesday starting at 2 p.m.

The proposed afternoon schedule comes as lawmakers seek to prevent the impeachment proceedings from disrupting the Senate’s legislative work.

House prosecution adviser and spokesperson Robert “Ace” Barbers had also backed moving the trial to 3 p.m. onward, saying lawmakers could attend to legislative duties in the morning.

The prosecution has additionally supported adding Friday as a trial day to make up for time lost to weather-related disruptions.

Lacson said the schedule could still be reversed when urgent legislative matters require senators’ attention.

“If there are pressing matters on the legislative side, we can flip the schedule again if needed,” he said.

He noted that the House prosecution has yet to finish presenting its evidence on the second of the four articles of impeachment. The defense would still have to present its case after the prosecution completes its presentation.

The Senate had earlier approved a 92-day trial period, allocating 62 trial days for the House prosecution and 30 for Duterte’s defense. The schedule was based on the impeachment court’s pretrial order issued before the trial began in July.