MANILA, Philippines — The Senate impeachment court on Monday elected Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero as presiding officer of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, ruled that conviction requires at least 16 votes, and resolved key procedural issues before hearing opening statements from both the prosecution and defense.
The Senate voted 12-8 to elect Escudero under Senate Resolution No. 39, as amended, after an hour-long debate over who should preside over the impeachment court.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian initially convened the impeachment court before Sen. Panfilo Lacson nominated Escudero to serve as presiding officer.
Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano opposed the move, arguing that the Constitution contemplates the Senate President as presiding officer in impeachment trials except when the President is the respondent, in which case the Chief Justice presides.
Alan Peter Cayetano warned that electing another presiding officer could expose the proceedings to constitutional challenges, while Pia Cayetano said any amendments to impeachment rules should be made by the impeachment court.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan countered that the Constitution requires only the Chief Justice to preside when the President is on trial and does not require the Senate President to preside over trials involving other impeachable officials.
Gatchalian said the arrangement would allow him to continue overseeing the Senate’s legislative work while remaining engaged in the impeachment proceedings.
After assuming the chair, Escudero ruled that conviction requires at least 16 affirmative votes, citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Bayan v. Zamora, which interpreted the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds vote of the 24-member Senate.
Escudero also ruled that the House prosecution bears the burden of proving its case through clear and convincing evidence.
The impeachment court denied the prosecution’s request to open and mark as evidence a sealed box containing Duterte’s tax records from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), ruling that the documents were not produced under a lawful court order. Escudero ordered the records returned to the BIR without prejudice to the issuance of a future subpoena.
The court also adopted a three-day disclosure period for newly identified prosecution witnesses and a five-day disclosure period for newly identified defense witnesses. It reaffirmed the “one counsel, one witness” rule, allowing two lawyers to examine a witness only in exceptional circumstances.
During opening statements, House prosecution panel head and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro urged senator-judges to decide the case based solely on the evidence, describing the four articles of impeachment as involving abuse of power, betrayal of public trust and lack of accountability.
Luistro also disclosed that prosecutors had filed a new subpoena seeking the income tax returns of Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio and records involving their companies after the court returned the sealed BIR documents.
Lead defense counsel Sheila Sison argued that the impeachment case sought to overturn the mandate of more than 32 million Filipinos who elected Duterte in 2022.
Sison maintained that Duterte remained entitled to full constitutional protections throughout the proceedings. She also argued that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the vice president’s confidential funds through the Department of Budget and Management and said Commission on Audit findings did not establish misuse of the funds.
