Marilyn Cahatol

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, tackles Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte on day two of the trial, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. 
The House prosecution panel presented National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, from the Cybercrime Investigation Unit, to testify on the Article IV charges of culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, and betrayal of public trust.
With Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero overseeing the trial alongside Senate President Win Gatchalian, Senator-judges listened to testimony related to the alleged grave threats made by the vice president against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family. 
Joseph B. Vidal, Senate Social Media Unit

Article (news)

VP Sara Impeachment

Adrian Ayalin

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178351019039920260708-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-SSMU-JV-29.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, tackles Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte on day two of the trial, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. <em>Joseph B. Vidal, Senate Social Media Unit</em></span></span></span>MANILA — The Supreme Court will not interfere with the proceedings of the impeachment court despite urgent motions filed by various individuals, according to a law professor.</div><p>University of the Philippines Associate Dean Paolo Tamase believes that the high court is unlikely to decide on the latest motion filed by lawyers led by Atty. Israelito Torreon questioning the authority of Senator Francis Escudero as the presiding officer of the impeachment court.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="http://Supreme Court asked to stop impeachment trial over legality of rules, presiding officer">Supreme Court asked to stop impeachment trial over legality of rules, presiding officer</a></div><p>Tamase said that while the Constitution is silent on who should preside if the person on trial is not the President, it is not ambiguous.</p><p>“If you look at decisions ng court, ang explanation doon ay intent of the ratifiers, of the people iyong important and therefore iyong intent of the framers best guess lang iyan, kung ano ang intent ng ratifiers, so the text is supreme there,” Tamase said.</p><p>On the motion of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano asking the court to decide this early on how many votes are needed to convict the Vice President, Tamase said it is too early for the court to intervene.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/30/sc-asked-to-rule-on-senate-leadership-row-which-may-affect-vp-impeachment-trial-1759">SC asked to rule on Senate leadership row, which may affect VP impeachment trial</a></div><p>“Hilaw pa effectively iyong case and usually iyong Supreme Court waits for the case to be ripe even if may actual case na it waits for the case to be ripe before it decides, kasi iyong decision niya will be taken as law moving forward,” Tamase said.</p><p>While urgent petitions are pending, also pending are main petitions for the nullification of the Articles of Impeachment filed by Torreon, Vice President Duterte and other lawyers before the complaints were transmitted to the Senate.</p><p>Tamase said the Supreme Court may declare the petitions as moot and academic.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/19/sara-duterte-challenges-her-impeachment-at-supreme-court-1053">Sara Duterte seeks to block her impeachment trial</a></div><p>“I think potentially panis na siya kasi nag-pass na iyong moment eh, kung ano man ang issues doon nandito na tayo sa trial so kung ipo-promote natin ang Constitution as one for accountability and the impeachment as process for accountability, bakit natin pipigalan iyuong punto na nariyan na iyong ebidensya,” Tamase said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vHsdG4s4dyg?si=iRHczxQnGGoKvcCO" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>The Supreme Court will not interfere with the proceedings of the impeachment court despite urgent motions filed by various individuals, according to a law professor.</p>

The Supreme Court will not interfere with the proceedings of the impeachment court despite urgent motions filed by various individuals, according to a law professor.

SC won’t interfere in impeachment proceedings, says law professor

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SC won’t interfere in impeachment proceedings, says law professor

Adrian Ayalin,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 08, 2026 07:45 PM PHT

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impeachment

Supreme Court

Sara Duterte

Duterte impeachment

Paolo Tamase

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