Sara’s impeachment trial to start on July 6

MANILA, Philippines, May 22 ------ The senators have agreed that the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will start on July 6, Monday, after the pretrial and summons have been complied with.

Senators held an all-member caucus on Wednesday night to discuss the impeachment calendar, now that the summons had been served on the Vice President, who was given until June 1 to formally answer the case against her. The trial proper can start in July, with the whole of June set for the pretrial and the marking of evidence. This means that while Congress is adjourned for the sine die break from June 6 to July 26, the Senate will be continuing with proceedings now that it has convened as an impeachment court.

When the trial proper starts on July 6, the Senate can dedicate its time to holding trial from Monday to Wednesday, 2 p.m. onwards, and the filing of pleadings on Thursday. When the second regular session resumes July 27 onwards or after the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the Senate will hold its regular plenary sessions Monday to Wednesday mornings, and trial in the afternoon. Senators can hold their usual committee hearings on Thursday and Friday, or even resume the impeachment trial on Thursday.

The calendar was disclosed to the media by Sen. Erwin Tulfo in a phone interview yesterday. “It is continuous. Our work will be five days. The day off of senators will be Saturday, Sunday,” Tulfo said. Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, the impeachment presiding officer, has yet to brief the media about the impeachment timeline.

Cayetano has largely avoided the Senate media since Malacañang refuted his claim that the Senate was under attack on May 13, when the Senate sergeant-at-arms fired several shots at retreating National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents on the suspicion that they were about to serve fugitive Sen. Ronald dela Rosa’s International Criminal Court arrest warrant.

Source: philstar.com