THE Senate impeachment court has directed Vice President Sara Duterte to appear in her trial, which is set to open on Monday, July 6, 2026.
The letter addressed to Duterte was signed by the court’s presiding officer Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian dated June 2, 2026.
“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 stated.
On May 11, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte over alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violations of the Constitution and misuse of public funds in connection with alleged irregularities involving confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education during her time as department secretary.
Also cited in the article of impeachment submitted by the lower chamber to the Senate were the threats Duterte made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
In the opening of the trial, members of the defense and the prosecution teams will formally enter their appearances before delivering their opening statements.
In a radio interview, Senate Secretary and Impeachment Clerk of Court Renato “Rey” Bantug Jr. said the presiding officer during the impeachment trial is a matter that remains on the table.
Unless the majority senator-judges elect the one who will preside over the trial, Gatchalian, as the Senate President, is the presiding officer.
There were rumors earlier that either Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan or Francis “Chiz” Escudero will serve as presiding officers of the impeachment trial considering their legal backgrounds and experience.
Senators met in a caucus on Friday morning, July 3, where they discussed the upcoming impeachment proceedings, according to Senator Erwin Tulfo.
Among those who attended the caucus are Gatchalian, Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senators Panfilo Lacson, Risa Hontiveros, JV Ejercito, Tulfo, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Escudero, Loren Legarda, and Robin Padilla.
Only Legarda and Padilla were members of the minority.
“We only discussed the impeachment,” said Tulfo. “We were given documents to follow the sequencing. That’s it.”
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is already finalizing security preparations for the impeachment trial of Duterte.
In a press conference, PNP public information chief Colonel Allen Rae Co said around 6,000 police personnel will be deployed to ensure the peace and order at the Senate during the opening of the trial.
“Our comprehensive security plan is already in place, intelligence monitoring is ongoing to monitor any threat that there might be and mismong hapon na ito the PNP will be conducting a final coordinating conference among all units for the final preparation sa ating security plan,” he said. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)