The Senate impeachment court will shift to full-day hearings in October but suspend the trial for nearly a month to make way for deliberations on the national budget, laying out a timetable Tuesday that could stretch Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment proceedings well into November.

Presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero said the court will hold full-day hearings on 1 and 2  October, 5 to 9 October, and 12 to 15 October before suspending proceedings from 16 October to 8 November.

“From October 16 to November 8, trial shall be suspended to give way to the budget deliberations and hearings in preparation of the senate version of the budget,” Escudero said.

The court will continue holding shorter hearings through September, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., as 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 had 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 Sept. 14 after the court set aside Sept. 9 and 10 for the marking of documentary evidence. Prosecutor Chel Diokno said more than 1,800 documents had 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 Article II presentation begins, offering 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 later, saying the court’s limited hearing time was the bigger 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 dispute over the number of votes needed to convict Duterte.

The court plans to hear oral arguments from the prosecution and defense on 23 September before senator-judges vote on the threshold issue.

That vote, however, will not determine Duterte’s guilt or innocence on the impeachment charges. It will address Senator Erwin Tulfo’s challenge to Escudero’s ruling that 16 votes—the two-thirds requirement based on the Senate’s full 24-member composition—are needed for conviction.###