Escudero said the impeachment court is still trying to find at least one hearing date during that period, but acknowledged that no firm schedule has been set.
PRESIDING officer Senator Chiz Escudero confers with lawyers from both the prosecution and defense as tensions rise during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Photograph by ARAM LASCANO for DAILY TRIBUNE
The Senate impeachment court will shift to full-day hearings in October but after that suspend the trial for nearly a month to make way for deliberations on the national budget, laying out a timetable that could stretch Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial well into November.
Presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said the court will hold whole-day hearings on 1 and 2 October, 5 to 9 October, and 12 to 15 October and then suspend proceedings from 16 October to 8 November.
“The trial shall be suspended from 16 October to 8 November to give way to the budget deliberations in preparation for the Senate version of the budget,” Escudero said.
In the meantime, the court will continue holding shorter hearings through September — from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. --- as the senators juggle the impeachment proceedings with regular legislative work and budget preparations.
Escudero said regular Senate sessions would take place in the afternoons while the Finance Committee and its subcommittees conduct budget hearings.
The chamber will suspend legislative sessions on 30 September ahead of the first full-day impeachment hearing the following day.
After the 8 November suspension, the Senate is scheduled to begin floor deliberations on the budget on 9 November, with discussions expected to continue for two weeks.
Escudero said the impeachment court is still trying to find at least one hearing date during that period, but acknowledged that no firm schedule has been set.
“We are still trying to squeeze in a trial date in those two weeks, at least one, but I’m not sure yet,” he said.
He indicated that the impeachment trial could resume later in the week of 9 November or the following week, depending on the Senate’s budget calendar.
Meanwhile, the prosecution will resume presenting witnesses on 14 September after the court set aside 9 and 10 September for the marking of documentary evidence. Prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno said more than 1,800 documents have been submitted pursuant to subpoenas, including bank and insurance records.
Defense counsel Michael Poa asked for at least two weeks to study the documents before the presentation of Article II begins and offered to surrender an equivalent number of days from the defense’s presentation.
Escudero rejected the idea that the issue could simply be resolved by giving the defense fewer days, saying the court’s limited hearing time was the greater constraint.
The court also left open the possibility of allowing the prosecution to present another witness before the defense completes its cross-examination of an earlier witness, a move Escudero said could help maximize the limited hearing days.
Separate from the trial schedule, the impeachment court is set to hear legal experts on 16 September on the question of the number of votes needed to convict Duterte.
