The Senate impeachment court officially concluded its pre-trial conference against Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday afternoon, June 25, wrapping up after five sessions. The final session ended just after 5 p.m. following the completion of evidence marking for Articles I and II of the impeachment complaint.
According to Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr., who serves as the clerk of the impeachment court, finishing the evidence-marking process marks the formal end of the pre-trial stage. This allows court personnel to begin preparing the pre-trial order.
“Formally, the pre-trial conference will be concluded and then the staff work will begin on the drafting and finalization of the pre-trial order,” Bantug told reporters.
Bantug noted that there is no definitive timeline yet for issuing the pre-trial order since drafting has not commenced, though he emphasized that court staff may work through the weekend to expedite the process.
“I don’t know yet. Until we start drafting it, I cannot estimate yet the time that it will take us to complete the draft of the pre-trial order. But we will finish it as soon, as fast as humanly possible,” Bantug said.
The pre-trial order will serve as the operational framework for the trial, integrating agreements and stipulations from both sides.
“Essentially, a pre-trial order is the roadmap on how the trial can best be conducted, taking into consideration the respective positions of the parties,” he said.
Both the prosecution and defense have already completed the pre-marking of evidence for Articles III and IV.
Additionally, both sides have outlined their expected timelines for the upcoming trial: the prosecution estimates it will need about 62 trial dates to present its case, while the defense anticipates needing around 35 trial dates.
Leading up to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), the impeachment trial is scheduled to run from Monday to Wednesday, starting at 2 p.m. daily.