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Impeachment Trial - Day 26
On Day 26 the impeachment court, sitting with 17 senator-judges, heard invited amici curiae — retired justices — on constitutional questions including the vote threshold for conviction and judicial review of the court's rulings. The presiding officer granted the prosecution's subpoena requests for witnesses appearing September 21–23, issued show-cause orders to certain House Prosecution Panel members under Rule 18 on sub judice, and ruled that the parties may argue beyond the three issues previously identified by the court. A written memorandum from retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., submitted after a medical procedure, was distributed to the senator-judges and posted on the court's website.
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Transcript status: Machine-cleanedGo to the transcript in SenateHearingTranscripts
Session record
Claims introduced or updated
- No new standing claim cards were added this session; the existing card 'The Supreme Court's one-year-bar ruling' was updated.
- The claim card 'The Supreme Court's one-year-bar ruling' was updated to record that a retired Chief Justice appearing as amicus curiae told the court that its decisions stand, with judicial review available only upon grave abuse of discretion rather than mere abuse of discretion, and that the Supreme Court decides only questions of law, not questions of fact.
Evidence & exhibits
- A written memorandum from retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who did not appear after recently undergoing a medical procedure, was distributed to the senator-judges and the parties and posted on the impeachment court's website.
- The court granted subpoena material for prosecution witnesses: a subpoena duces tecum ad testificandum already issued to Atty. Gerardo Del Rosario of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and new subpoenas to Atty. Ariel Ronquillo of the Civil Service Commission and the PhilGEPS division chief of the DBM for September 21–23.
- Subpoenas were ordered issued for Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Atty. Gary Samonte, and the police-major witness for September 23 only.
Court rulings
- The presiding officer declared a quorum with 17 senator-judges present.
- The presiding officer granted the prosecution's request for subpoenas, with a subpoena duces tecum ad testificandum already issued to Atty. Del Rosario and new subpoenas to be issued to Atty. Ronquillo and the PhilGEPS official for September 21–23.
- The presiding officer ordered that subpoenas for Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Atty. Gary Samonte, and the police-major witness be issued only for September 23.
- Pursuant to the court's 26 August 2026 directive on strict enforcement of Rule 18 on sub judice, the presiding officer issued show-cause orders to certain members of the House Prosecution Panel.
- Presiding Officer Escudero ruled that the parties are not limited to the three issues identified by the impeachment court and may spend their oral argument time on other matters.
- The presiding officer requested respondent's counsel to submit its pre-marked pre-trial exhibits to the Clerk of Court to identify exhibits common to the parties.
Open questions
- How will the impeachment court resolve the dispute over the constitutional vote threshold for conviction, on which a senator-judge argued the denominator is all 24 members while amici pointed to the ambiguity of Article XI, Section 3(6)?
- May senator-judges who did not attend or substantially participate in all hearings still validly vote, a question an amicus curiae characterized as an internal matter for the Senate?
- What will the subpoenaed witnesses — officials of the Civil Service Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the PhilGEPS Office of the DBM, plus Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Atty. Gary Samonte, and the police-major witness for September 23 only — present when they appear on September 21–23?
- How will the members of the House Prosecution Panel who received show-cause orders respond under the court's Rule 18 sub judice directive?