Impeachment court summons Sara Duterte to first day of her trial

The Senate, acting as an impeachment court, has ordered Vice President Sara Duterte to appear at her trial, which opens on Monday, July 6.

Senate officials said preparations, including security measures, have already been completed, with Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian expected to preside over the proceedings.

Gatchalian signed the notice dated July 2 and addressed to Duterte herself.

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“Pursuant to Rule VII of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials and in accordance with the Writ of Summons issued on 19 May 2026, directing you to ‘appear before the Senate of the Philippines upon notice, and to abide by, obey and perform such orders, directions, and judgments as the Senate of the Philippines shall make in the premises according to the Constitution and laws of the Philippines,’ you are hereby notified that trial will commence on the 6th day of July at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and are further directed to appear on said date, in person or through counsel, before the Impeachment Court at the Session Hall of the Senate of the Philippines, Pasay City,” the notice read.

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The prosecution team was furnished a copy of the order.

It remains to be seen whether the Vice President will personally appear of just send her lawyer.

Presiding officer

Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives on May 11 over alleged misuse of public funds, amassing unexplained wealth, bribery involving Department of Education officials, and assassination threats President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“We are now ready for Monday as we begin the impeachment trial proceedings,” Senate Secretary and Impeachment Clerk of Court Renato Bantug said in Filipino.

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As the proceedings open, members of the defense and the prosecution teams will formally enter their appearances first before delivering their opening statements, Bantug said, citing the 2012 impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Gatchalian, in an interview with dzMM earlier Friday, maintained that he will serve as presiding officer.

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But Bantug said he had not received final instructions on who will preside.

“We’ll find out on Monday,” he said in a separate interview with dzMM.

The upper chamber has amended the impeachment rules to allow other senators, other than the Senate president to preside over the proceedings.

The previous rules explicitly stated that the Senate president should preside in all impeachment cases, except when the president of the Philippines is on trial.

The amended rules still designate the Senate president as the presiding officer “unless the Senate, by a majority vote of the members present, elects another senator as the presiding officer.”

Legal background

Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he personally believes the Senate should choose either Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan or Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero as presiding officer, citing their legal backgrounds and experience.

“We are not belittling Sen. Win’s capabilities. As a matter of fact, when we talk, he himself says that if there is a need to designate a presiding officer or impeachment trial manager, he is amenable to it,” Tulfo clarified in the same radio interview.

Senators held an all-senators caucus on Friday to discuss the impeachment proceedings.

Present were Gatchalian, Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Risa Hontiveros, JV Ejercito, Erwin Tulfo, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Loren Legarda, Robin Padilla and Escudero.

Only Legarda and Padilla belong to the minority group.

“It’s all about impeachment,” Erwin Tulfo told reporters, when asked whether the plunder case against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta was discussed.

“We were given documents to follow the sequencing. That’s it,” he added.

He also declined to say whether the issue on who will preside was taken up.

No delays seen

Duterte’s defense team, meanwhile, has filed on Thursday its comments on the impeachment court’s pretrial order.

Defense lawyer Michael Poa, however, declined to disclose the contents, saying, “We are prohibited by the Rules on Impeachment from discussing such matters in public.”

Bantug said he had yet to thoroughly review the defense’s submission and could not immediately determine whether it would require any corrections to the order.

He also noted that the defense has not sought a postponement of the trial.

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms retired Police Maj. Gen. Alfred Sotto Corpuz said different units of the Philippine National Police have been tapped to augment Senate security.

The PNP said it plans to deploy around 6,000 police officers to the Senate premises.

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“A comprehensive security plan is already in place. Intelligence monitoring is ongoing to monitor any,” said PNP public information chief Col. Allen Rae Co at a press briefing in Camp Crame on Friday. —WITH A REPORT FROM JASON SIGALES INQ