The Senate may convene as an impeachment court this month and then start a full-blown trial of Vice President Sara Duterte in June, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.
Speaking to radio dzMM on Saturday, May 2, Lacson said such is the possible timeline if the House of Representatives gets enough votes for the approval of the complaint in plenary at tomorrow’s resumption of session.
Duterte is accused of misusing millions of her confidential funds, having unexplained wealth and taking to social media to declare she had contracted a person to assassinate President Marcos, the First Lady and former speaker Martin Romualdez should she get killed.
“Once the articles of impeachment are transmitted to us, if we follow the processes, we’re talking of at least three weeks before the actual trial starts,” Lacson said.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has made it clear there won’t be any delay in the convening of an impeachment court in keeping with the senators’ constitutional duty.
In the previous impeachment complaint, then Senate president Francis Escudero dilly-dallied in starting the trial, taking months before convening the court only for it to shelve the complaint after the Supreme Court (SC) struck it down as unconstitutional on a technicality.
If the House approves the committee report containing the complaint on May 11 – as proposed by House justice committee chairperson Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro – and immediately transmits it to the Senate, the upper chamber will then have to fulfill its constitutional duty of convening as an impeachment court early as May 12-14.
Lacson said for the present Senate leadership, proceeding to trial “forthwith” as stated in the 1987 Constitution means “immediately.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court defined forthwith as done within a “reasonable time.”
Sotto earlier said forthwith should mean no delay in convening the court, even as soon as “the following day.” But convening an impeachment court a day or two after the transmittal of complaint does not mean an immediate full-blown trial, Lacson said.
A preliminary conference or pre-trial would still be held to mark the pieces of evidence that both parties agree to present, Lacson said. But this need not require the presence of all the senator-judges, with just the Senate president presiding, Lacson said.
He said these proceedings are necessary as he recalled that when he sat as senator-judge in the impeachment trial of the late chief justice Renato Corona, surprise witnesses were presented and sowed confusion because of the lack of pre-trial.
TRO may stall trial
As to petitions filed before the SC to stop the impeachment proceedings, a trial may still take place if there is no temporary restraining order, Lacson said.
“I believe that so long as the Supreme Court does not issue a TRO, the trial will continue. But if it compels us, we will discuss the matter,” Lacson said.
He pointed out that the Senate as an impeachment court is a co-equal branch, whose decisions whether to convict or acquit cannot be appealed before the high court.
“The impeachment court is a constitutional body and the Supreme Court has said it respects not only the Senate but the impeachment court as co-equal. The impeachment court’s decision cannot be appealed even before the Supreme Court. It is final,” Lacson said.
Lacson also reminded his colleagues to “act like judges” and not to appear partial.
A known Duterte ally, Sen. Robinhood Padilla, attended the all-senator caucus on Thursday, April 30, and was reminded of proper decorum. He was also asked to relay the message to his colleagues in the minority bloc, Lacson said.
“We must listen to the questions during direct and cross-examination, and base our decisions on the evidence,” he said.
To prepare himself for trial, Lacson said he is taking crash courses by consulting with lawyers, as well as recalling his experience as senator-judge in the Corona impeachment trial.
“I joked that I do have experience in court not as a lawyer but as a witness. When I was a law enforcer, I took the stand as a witness or arresting officer – or even an accused,” Lacson said.
The Senate still has its P27-million budget from last year available for the impeachment trial. Only P512,000 of the P27.544 million was spent for 60 senator-judges’ robes as well as IDs and other items.
“The amount is under the continuing appropriations in the 2025 budget. It may be used this year. If not, the amount will be treated as savings and returned to the treasury,” said Lacson, who chairs the Senate accounts committee.
Resignation
In a radio interview, Sotto said that if Duterte resigns before the Senate concludes an impeachment trial, the proceedings could be dismissed, which could effectively allow her to run for public office again in the future.
Should the trial be mooted by resignation, Sotto said Duterte would avoid the ultimate political penalty: perpetual disqualification from holding government office.
“Because in the first place she’s not impeached; and second, there’s no decision on perpetual disqualification. If you get impeached, you’re just impeached. Perpetual disqualification is a separate penalty,” Sotto told dwIZ.
According to UP Law’s impeachment primer, an official is considered “impeached” once the House of Representatives formally charges the official, triggering a trial in the upper chamber.
An actual conviction, however, requires a two-thirds vote at the Senate and results in outright removal from office, carrying an optional and separate penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding any future government post.
The hypothetical scenario mirrors the 2011 case of former ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned just days before her Senate trial.
Gutierrez’s departure rendered the proceedings moot and forced the chamber to cancel the trial entirely.
Lawyer Lorna Kapunan also raised the scenario of Duterte resigning if confronted with compelling evidence of her wrongdoing. But unlike Sotto, Kapunan said Duterte’s resignation will not stop her impeachment trial.
“With the massive evidence that we saw – that was overwhelming, compelling. I think she will resign,” she said at the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City. “But even if she does resign, the impeachment trial will push through because there’s a second penalty – disqualification.”
Kapunan said the impeachment case rests on strong documentary and testimonial evidence presented during the House hearings, including official records and sworn testimony from government agencies and resource persons.
“This is not an ordinary criminal case because there’s no imprisonment in impeachment,” she said. – With additional reports from Neil Jayson Servallos and Delon Porcalla