Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri suggested shifting the Senate impeachment trial schedule to the afternoon to accelerate proceedings and prevent conflicts with standard legislative duties.
Zubiri proposed convening regular Senate legislative sessions at 10:00 AM and launching impeachment trial proceedings at 3:00 PM, allowing trial sessions to run as late as 10:00 PM.
He noted that the current morning trial schedule forces early adjournments to accommodate afternoon legislative duties, limiting effective trial time.
“I could see that having the sessions for the impeachment court in the morning, we have to put a halt because of the sessions in the afternoon,” Zubiri stated.
He emphasized that an extended afternoon-to-evening timeframe would allow uninterrupted presentations of evidence and thorough cross-examinations by Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team.
“When you present evidence and the cross will be done by the counsels for the respondent, hindi po mapuputol yung kanilang discussion,” Zubiri explained.
“Sayang din naman yung oras para sa impeachment court,” he added, recalling that the Senate only managed two to three hours of legislative work the previous week before adjourning early.
“I’d like to put that notice because last week we only had two hours of session,” Zubiri noted, clarifying that he raised the idea early to give both prosecution and defense teams advance notice.
Presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero acknowledged the proposal, confirming the chamber’s flexibility while stressing that any timetable modifications must be discussed during a Senate caucus and communicated to both parties in advance.
“The points of the good gentleman are well taken, but we shall decide at the appropriate time after caucus,” Escudero said, noting the Senate is “not in a hurry” and will maintain the current schedule for the week.
Senators Pia Cayetano and Camille Villar both supported referring the proposal to a caucus so all members—including absent colleagues like Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano—can deliberate on the scheduling adjustments.