Senators yet to discuss possible election of presiding officer for Sara Duterte impeachment trial

Senators have yet to discuss the possible election of a presiding officer for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday.

Gatchalian made the remarks after Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said members of the Senate majority bloc have initially agreed to elect Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero as the presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court that will hear Duterte's case.

"I don't want to preempt yung presiding officer discussion. Pag-uusapan pa yan ng mga senators. Under the rules, it's the Senate President who will preside unless the Senate will decide otherwise," Gatchalian told reporters.

(I don't want to preempt yung presiding officer discussion. Senators will still talk about it. Under the rules, it's the Senate President who will president unless the Senate will decide otherwise.)

"Magkakaroon kami ng discussion dyan," he said.

(We will have a discussion on that.)

Under the rules of procedure on impeachment trials, the Senate President will preside the cases. However, proposed Senate Resolution No. 430 amended the rule, allowing a senator to be elected as presiding officer of the impeachment court through a majority vote of the members present.

According to Lacson, Escudero was considered to be the impeachment court presiding officer due to his legal background and denied it was in exchange for his transfer to the majority bloc. He also said Escudero may be elected once the Senate impeachment court convenes on July 6, 2026.

"Pag-uusapan muna. Again, I cannot preempt ang magiging discussion. We will discuss but right now, as it stands in the rules, I will preside," Gatchalian said.

(We're going to discuss it first. Again, I cannot preempt ang magiging discussion. We will discuss but right now, as it stands in the rules, I will preside.)

Escudero previously presided over the impeachment court in 2025 when he was still the Senate president.

Duterte is facing impeachment charges over allegations of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes. In May, she was impeached by the House of Representatives for the second time.

On May 18, the Senate convened as an impeachment court. On June 1, Duterte's camp filed their answer on the Articles of Impeachment, asking the court to junk the impeachment case against her.

The pre-trial conference for Duterte's impeachment trial formally commenced on Thursday, June 18. — RSJ, GMA News