Escudero elected to preside over Duterte impeachment trial

[Updated as of 03:30 p.m.]

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero was elected on Monday as presiding officer of the impeachment court that will try the case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

This is the second time Escudero will preside over Duterte’s impeachment trial.

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Escudero’s designation, however, drew strong objections from the Senate minority.

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READ: LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte impeachment trial begins | July 6, 2026

On senator-judge Panfilo Lacson’s motion, 12 of 21 senator-judges voted to elect Escudero, while eight voted against it.

Escudero did not participate in the voting.

The election of the presiding officer was called by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian himself, who initially presided over the proceedings, which opened at 2:00 p.m.

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“Pursuant to  Rule 2, paragraph 2 of the rules of of procedure on impeachment trials as amended, we  now proceed to the election of  the presiding officer of the impeachment court,” Gatchalian said.

But as he was about to call Lacson for the election of the presiding officer, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano raised  a point of  order.

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“It is very clear in the Constitution of the Philippines that the Presiding Officer is the Senate President,” Cayetano said.

Gatchalian pointed out, however, that the impeachment rules were amended during the June 3 session of the Senate as a legislative body and  nobody objected at that time.

READ: Senate archives impeachment case against VP Sara Duterte

Cayetano was still Senate president on June 3 until  the chamber approved a  motion to declare all seats vacant with 12 senators in attendance.

According to the Senate chief,  Cayetano should  have objected when they amended the rules on June  3  in the plenary.

At that time, however, Cayetano and his allies had been absent from June 1 to 3 as they protested the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada in connection with the flood control scandal.

Gatchalian then pushed for the election of the new  presiding officer,  despite repeated objections from Cayetano.

“Objection Mr. President. I’m allowed to object and I’m allowed  to explain my objection,” the minority leader said.

Responding to Cayetano, Gatchalian said:  “You’re allowed to object but we’ll proceed with the division of the house.”

As Senate president, Escudero led the convening of the Senate as an impeachment court in June 2025 to hear the first impeachment case against Duterte.

READ: Impeached anew: House OKs articles vs Sara Duterte again with 257 votes

A month later, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the impeachment case initiated by the House of Representatives was unconstitutional.

This prompted the Senate to archive the impeachment case against Duterte in August last year.

In accordance with the one-year ban on the filing of impeachment cases, fresh complaints were lodged in the House early this year against the vice president.

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Duterte was then impeached anew by the House on May 11. /mcm/dp