Decision on Sara Duterte new trial schedule likely on Sept. 02, 2026 —Tongol

The Senate impeachment court may release on Wednesday, September 2, the ruling on the proposal to adjust the schedule of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte to hasten the proceedings, court spokesperson Regie Tongol said.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Tongol said that the trial’s schedule may either be retained, be reverted to the afternoon, or get “mixed.”

“The impeachment court is actually finalizing kung ano po ‘yung actual na changes, if ever na may mangyayari po. As of now, nakuha na ‘yung calendar from the Committee on Finance para makita at ma-plot ng both the Senate President and the Presiding Officer ‘yung mangyayaring possible na schedule,” he explained.

(The impeachment court is finalizing what the actual changes will be, if ever there will be any. As of now, the calendar has been obtained from the Committee on Finance so that both the Senate President and the Presiding Officer can see and plot the possible schedule.)

“Pwedeng mangyari malipat sa hapon totally ‘yung hearing, mag-stay, o kaya naman po mixed —merong mga araw na umaga, may mga araw na hapon,” he added.

(It’s possible that the hearing will be moved to the afternoon entirely, remain as is, or could be mixed —some days it will be in the morning, some in the afternoon.)

Tongol said the impeachment court is considering all options to reach its target of finishing the trial by December this year.

Asked when the new schedule would be disclosed, he said, “Possible tomorrow.”

Tongol said that should the adjusted schedule be announced on Wednesday, its implementation will begin next week.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero earlier said that the court will release a more specific schedule for the impeachment trial once Senate Committee on Finance chairman JV Ejercito comes up with a calendar for the deliberations of the proposed 2027 budget. —LDF, GMA News