Senate to balance VP Sara impeachment trial, budget hearings starting Oct. 13

MANILA – The Senate will resume budget deliberations while temporarily making room for the prosecution’s submission of evidence in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senate President Sen. Win Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian on Saturday said the Senate would advance its budget hearings to Oct. 13 to make use of the time while the prosecution prepares the documentary requirements for its formal offer of evidence.

The impeachment trial is scheduled for Oct. 12 to 13, while budget deliberations will run from Oct. 13 to 16, according to Gatchalian.

“Since paperwork naman, papeles naman ‘yung gagawin, submission na lang naman ng mga ebidensya… Gagamitin natin ‘yung oras para sa budget deliberations,” Gatchalian said in an interview on DZMM.

The Senate is juggling the impeachment proceedings with deliberations on the proposed national budget for 2027, which Gatchalian said remained far from halfway complete, with several agencies yet to be called.

“Gusto natin na quality ‘yung trabaho, quality din ‘yung debate, quality analysis. At ‘yun ang challenge,” he said.

Gatchalian said senators and their staff were under pressure to handle both responsibilities without compromising either the impeachment proceedings or scrutiny of the national budget.

Gatchalian said the Senate would likely need two more days to examine the testimony of the prosecution’s financial forensic expert and lawyer Alexander Cabrera, including time for the defense’s cross-examination and questions from senator-judges.

The expert’s testimony is significant to the prosecution’s allegations of unexplained wealth against Duterte, but Gatchalian stressed that senators must independently assess the evidence and the expert’s methodology.

“Pero ‘di ibig sabihin na maniniwala agad ang mga senator-judges. Dapat pag-aralan pa rin ‘yung kaniyang methodology, pag-aralan ‘yung opinion nya, pag-aralan kung may logic ‘yung kaniyang ginawa,” he said.

He noted that the financial evidence involved records from multiple sources, including the Anti-Money Laundering Council, banks, insurance companies and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Gatchalian said the records needed to be examined together to establish a coherent account of the transactions under scrutiny.

The financial expert’s analysis also covers nearly 18 years of data, making the assessment particularly complex, he said.

Gatchalian said the Senate aims to proceed to the defense’s presentation of evidence as soon as possible, with the goal of concluding the trial before the end of the year.

“Ang target ng korte ay hindi na ito tumawid [sa susunod na taon]. Ang gusto natin ay maka-present na agad ‘yung defense kaya mag-aallocate kami ng maraming oras para sa defense naman kapag nagpresent sila,” he said.

“Again, depende ito sa gaano karami nilang testigo nilang ipe-present, gaano kahaba,” he added. 

Gatchalian said the defense must follow the order of the articles of impeachment presented by the prosecution, although it can choose its own witnesses and the order in which they testify.

He also said the defense should no longer present evidence on bribery after the prosecution dropped that allegation.

The impeachment case has four articles, but Gatchalian noted that a conviction would require senators to find sufficient grounds under only one article.