Lawyers allied with Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to immediately halt her Senate impeachment trial, challenging the authority of Sen. Chiz Escudero to preside over the proceedings—a move that, if upheld, could cast doubt on key rulings made under his leadership, including his declaration that a two-thirds vote, or 16 of the Senate’s 24 members, is required for conviction.
In a 16-page “very urgent manifestation with motion,” defense counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon and eight other lawyers asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order, arguing that Escudero lacks the constitutional authority to serve as presiding officer of the impeachment court.
The petition centers on the Senate’s June 3, 2026 amendment to Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, which allows senators to elect their own presiding officer in impeachment cases that do not involve the President.
Torreon and his co-petitioners argue that the amendment was adopted without the constitutionally required quorum, making the rule change—and Escudero’s subsequent election as presiding officer—invalid. They contend that actions taken under the amended rule, including procedural rulings issued during the trial, could therefore be challenged.
The petition was filed on the second day of the impeachment trial, a day after Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano questioned the rule allowing the impeachment court to elect someone other than the Senate president as presiding officer.
Escudero, who was elected by the Senate to preside over the trial, ruled that convicting Duterte would require the votes of two-thirds of all 24 senator-judges, or 16 votes. Duterte, the first sitting Philippine vice president to face an impeachment trial, is charged under four articles of impeachment involving the alleged misuse of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and grave verbal threats.
