THE Senate impeachment court aims to finish the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte by the end of the year, presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
“In broad strokes, the presiding officer is optimistic and hopeful that we will complete these proceedings before the end of the year,” Escudero said.
Escudero made the statement in response of the inquiry of Senator-judge Juan Miguel Zubiri about the timeline of the proceedings.
Zubiri noted that the Senate, as a legislative body will soon start deliberating the proposed national budget for 2027.
“We just like to be guided accordingly. Once the budget starts being discussed, all departments will be coming here Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Siguro aabot tayo ng Saturday. So wala nang pahinga na ‘yung mga staff natin,” he said.
Escudero said the impeachment court will issue a detailed schedule once the Senate finance committee released a calendar on budget deliberations.
“Once that comes out, Senator-Judge (Juan Miguel) Zubiri, we can roughly give you a picture and an idea with respect to the timeline and the schedule, and if we will shift, and if we will indeed shift, how and when,” he said.
The impeachment trial of Duterte started on July 6, 2026. (TPM/VoxPop Philippines)