Pretrial order must be out by Monday or Tuesday – Bantug

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Secretary Renato Bantug, who will also serve as the clerk of court, said Wednesday that the July 6 start of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial remains achievable, although the pretrial order must be out by Monday or Tuesday.

According to Bantug, the schedule has become increasingly tight as the pretrial conference stretches into its fourth day.

“While it may be difficult on the part of the court, on the part of the staff, July 6 as the start of the trial proper is not yet an impossibility. Tight but not impossible,” Bantug told Senate reporters.

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Asked until when the pretrial order must be released without affecting the July 6 timetable, Bantug said it should be out by “Monday or Tuesday.”

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Bantug said that after the release of the pretrial order, both the prosecution and defense will be given three days to submit their comments.

“Still doable since their three days to reply will end before July 6,” he explained.

The pretrial conference entered its fourth day on Wednesday and could extend to a potential fifth day on Thursday, despite earlier expectations that it would conclude within two days.

According to Bantug, the pace of the pretrial conference, particularly the physical marking of documentary evidence is not the problem.

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However, the sheer volume of the documents involved is what prolonged the process.

More teams were deployed to help with the marking while office hours were extended to until 7 p.m. to hasten the marking.

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For Article I alone, around 8,000 exhibits, or 4,000 from each side, must be individually marked by the Senate Secretariat and countersigned by both the prosecution panel and the defense team.

Despite the extended pretrial period, Bantug said there have been no discussions about moving the scheduled start of the impeachment trial.

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“July 6 is still July 6,” he reiterated. /apl