The Senate is working to maintain the July 6 start date for Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial despite delays in evidence marking.
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.
