Senate President Francis Escudero takes oath as presiding officer of the impeachment court for Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 impeachment trial on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Charie Abarca / 好色先生TV)
MANILA,聽 Philippines鈥� The Senate, as an impeachment court, has been constituted but has yet to be formally convened for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
But what does this imply?聽
Senate President Francis Escudero explained that the Senate impeachment court was effectively constituted when
He is set to administer the oaths of the remaining 22 senators, who will sit as judges in the trial of the vice president, at 4:00 p.m. this Tuesday.
The official convening of the impeachment court is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11.
鈥�Once you convene it, you鈥檝e already struck the gavel. Constituted means it has been formally created. It鈥檚 considered constituted because there鈥檚 already a presiding officer, even if the members haven鈥檛 formally assumed their roles yet,鈥� Escudero explained to reporters in an interview in the Senate.
As a perspective, he compared the process to the chamber鈥檚 usual procedure: 鈥淚t鈥檚 like us now 鈥� the Senate is already constituted, but we haven鈥檛 convened yet. That will happen later this afternoon,鈥� he said, referring to their regular session at 3 p.m.聽
Escudero also sees no problem with the Senate constituting first before convening as an impeachment court, calling it a 鈥渧ery trivial matter鈥� that could not derail the impeachment proceedings against Duterte.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no technicality. If you鈥檙e asking whether someone will bring this to the Supreme Court to question it on a technicality that could stop the impeachment, I don鈥檛 think so.鈥�
He pointed out that the constitution of the impeachment court does not affect the merits of the case or the status of the parties involved.
Once the impeachment court is convened on Wednesday,聽 Escudero said it will just be 鈥渃eremonial鈥� for the House of Representatives鈥� panel of prosecutors to present the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte.`
The initial plan, he said, was to present the charges against Duterte first to the Senate to trigger the convening of the impeachment court, but it was just decided in the plenary on Monday to refer the Articles of Impeachment to the committee on rules.
Aside from the reading of the charges against Duterte, all other matters about the impeachment case of Duterte, such as the pre-trial, issuance of summons, trial calendar, and schedule, will now be decided by the court once it is convened, the Senate chief said.
It took the Senate months to constitute as an impeachment court since the House transmitted the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte for trial last February 5.
Over 200 House of Representatives lawmakers voted to impeach Duterte, accusing her of the following: Alleged misuse of confidential funds of her office and the Department of Education, which she previously headed; alleged assassination threats against President Ferdinand 鈥淏ongbong鈥� Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez; and alleged failure to disclose all her assets and properties in her statement of assets and net worth.