Impeachment trial held at no additional cost to Senate, says Gatchalian

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is not incurring additional expenses in its conduct of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday, July 16.

The Senate president said both the prosecution and the defense are shouldering their own expenses, including their food, internet and printing of materials.

"There are no additional expenses for the impeachment trial because we're treating this as an activity similar to a plenary session," Gatchalian said in mixed English and Filipino in a DZRH interview.

"We give them [the prosecution and defense] the basics but if they need any additional materials, they pay for it themselves," Gatchalian added.

The trial entered its sixth day yesterday with 19 senator-judges holding a caucus on whether to subpoena Duterte's bank and tax records, as well as the Anti-Money Laundering Council's reports on her transactions.

The Senate impeachment court will vote on the matter on Monday upon its resumption.

The prosecution's presentation of evidence for the fourth article on grave threats will wrap up on Tuesday with its final witness, National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag.

The slow pace of the proceedings so far, with about two days spent for each witness, has drawn concern from senators, including Gatchalian himself, who flagged that the trial could drag for over 100 days given the number of witnesses listed for both sides.

Gatchalian said in the radio interview that this is a concern especially when the Senate plenary sessions and budget deliberations resume.

This is why he had suggested the chamber elect a different impeachment presiding officer — Sen. Chiz Escudero — than himself.

"By August, we'll be dealing with the budget papasok. We still have pending LEDAC bills and other investigations," Gatchalian said. "Several things will happen at once."

"[The resumption of the plenay sessions] is one of our biggest problems right now. The impeachment can last six to seven hours. Plenary sessions also can last six to seven hours. So we could have 12-hour working days. It's difficult," he said.