Senate races to keep VP Sara impeachment trial on track for July 6

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June 25, 2026 | 7:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The pre-trial order for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte must be released by Monday or Tuesday next week as the scheduled start of the trial becomes "tight" due to the prolonged marking of evidence.

Senate impeachment court Secretary Renato Bantug said that while the start of the impeachment trial on July 6 remains feasible, the schedule has already become "tight" as the pretrial conference stretches into its fourth day on Wednesday, June 24.

“While it may be difficult on the part of the court, on the part of the staff, at this point, July 6 as the start of the trial proper is not yet an impossibility. Tight but not impossible,” Bantug said.

Bantug stressed that the defense and prosecution teams must finish the marking of evidence by Thursday, June 25, at the latest for the pretrial order to be released early next week and avoid affecting the original timeline of the impeachment trial.

“Supposing that we end tomorrow, what may happen is that we may not be able to release the pre-trial order by tomorrow, because per the approved calendar that was released before, we were supposed to also issue the pre-trial order,” Bantug said.

Both the defense and prosecution teams will be given three days to comment once the pretrial order is issued.

Bantug earlier said that the “sheer volume” of documents slowed the pace of the marking of evidence, extending the pretrial conference beyond its original two-day schedule. Article I, according to Bantug, consists of 4,000 documentary pieces of evidence.

The defense and House prosecution teams are still marking the sets of evidence for Article I, which accuses Duterte of misusing confidential funds, and Article II, which pertains to her alleged unexplained wealth.