The pre-trial conference in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte will require additional time to complete due to the sheer volume of documentary evidence being processed, Senate officials said Monday.
Senate Secretary and impeachment court clerk Rey Bantug said the marking of exhibits, particularly under Article 1, which covers alleged misuse of confidential funds, alone involves more than 4,000 documents.
“Kanina umaga, I was hopeful we could finish today. Ongoing ang marking. It is clear we couldn’t finish today… sheer volume of documents,” Bantug said in an interview.
He noted that the pace of proceedings has been agreed upon by both parties, but emphasized that the workload of evidence remains substantial.
Bantug said the marking of documents under Article 2, which concerns alleged unexplained wealth, is expected to be completed next, while Articles 3 and 4—covering alleged bribery and grave threats—were already finished last Thursday, the first day of pre-trial.
Despite the extension, he said the process remains orderly and within procedural expectations given the volume of submissions.
On legal procedure, Bantug clarified that the Senate Rules of Impeachment Trial do not explicitly provide for a motion to dismiss the case, though he noted that similar motions, such as a motion to quash, were raised in past impeachment proceedings.
He declined to comment on the defense camp’s earlier statement seeking the dismissal of the impeachment complaints, saying his office will treat filings at face value and refrain from interpretation.
“As clerk of court, I don’t wish to comment on that,” he said.
Bantug said the target remains to conclude pre-trial activities by June 25 to allow the issuance of a pre-trial order in line with the established timetable for the impeachment proceedings.