Vice President Sara Duterte's Impeachment Trial Is A Fashion Show

Vice President Sara Duterte has been impeached is now set to go on trial. This is a very momentous occasion and the trial should start immediately. But it won't begin until after the election and the State of the Union address which is months from the bringing of charges and long after the make-up of the Senate and House has been changed. Can you guess the most important thing about the Senate's preparation for the trial? If you said fashionable robes then you win!

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2036187/escudero-senate-preparing-for-vp-sara-dutertes-impeachment-trial

The Senate is preparing for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial but the proceedings will not start until sessions resume, Senate President Francis Escudero said on Wednesday.

Escudero confirmed the matter at a press conference. He explained that the Senate is “slowly but surely building up” in connection with the case.

As part of the preparations, the Senate has begun checking materials used in previous impeachment proceedings, gauging if these can still be reused or must be replaced.

“That’s part of the Senate’s preparations. We have inspected if the tables and witness stands that were used have been eaten by termites. We located it and placed it in respective areas for us to see what needs to be done,” he said.

“Just like I said, because the impeachment complaint has already been filed, it is now certain that there will be an impeachment trial so the Senate must prepare. We are not wasting our time despite it being recess,” he added.

The Senate chief also said that apart from conducting a “mock-up,” they have begun looking for suppliers of robes that senators would use when the chamber convenes into a court.

“We are canvassing for robes. We are now fixing the system for visitors, as well as the ID of the other side because they will go there every day like employees. We are doing this so that they would no longer log in the books,” he explained.

“We are now fixing the processes and systems so that the procedure will be smooth. I also tasked our team to list down the budget for that matter,” he added.

That's right. A Senate impeachment trial is not just a forum for justice; it is a forum for fashion. As long as it does not exceed 1million pesos. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2036201/escudero-senate-budget-for-sara-duterte-impeachment-trial-set-under-p1m

Senate President Chiz Escudero said the upper chamber is poised to spend less than a million for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the Senate chief said the estimated cost does not include lawyer fees, explaining that the chamber intends to engage with the “services of some practicing lawyers and law firms,” although the matter has yet to be finalized.

(Excluding lawyer fees, because we plan to engage the services of some practicing lawyers and law firms, although it has yet to be finalized, I think we will spend less than a million.)

Included in this ballpark figure are the following:

• Robe (which costs approximately P6,000 to P8,000 each with each senator-judge to be given two)
• Identification Cards for visitors
• Honoraria

(Lawyer fees are not yet included. But basic preparations including tables, electricity, aircon, water — that’s all the same. It won’t change ,and nothing will be adjusted because we do hold sessions in the morning sometimes,;we do hold committee hearings in the morning, so it’s going to be the same.)

The Senate chief said each senator-judge may have their own additional expenses, but it would be charged to their respective offices.

“Most, if not all, have law firms retained to advise them on legal matters so, kasama na ‘yon sa budget nila hindi na kami maglalabas ng dagdag pera pa doon,” he said.

(Most, if not all, have law firms retained to advise them on legal matters so that’s included in their budget so there’s no need for us to have an additional budget for that.)

The Senate’s top leader disclosed that the impeachment trial against Duterte will commence after President Bongbong Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address in July.

The last time the Senate had an impeachment trial was in 2013. Supremer Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached by the House in December, 2011. He was convicted and removed from office in May of 2012. So, a few months wait between impeachment and trial is not unprecedented. 

An neither is looking fine!

Look at those Senators working it in them robes!

Did yo know robes aren't required? Did you know Senate President Escudero was a member of the Senate who convicted Renato? Did you know Escudero was initially against wearing robes? It's true. 

https://web.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2012/0213_escudero1.asp

K. Davila: Many people are asking in the two minutes of the senator-judges, I mean Enrile had said, the senator-judge can pry into the brain, the soul and the heart I think of the witness but at the end people already feel, "Wait, the prosecution should be doing that particular thing and not the senator-judge."

FGE: I agree with you Karen, you know I was against wearing robes at the start.

K. Davila: You know abroad, they don't.

FGE: I was against wearing robes but you know what there is a practical reason to it according to Sen. Sotto and when he told me that I agreed already. He said "You know, we must be able to distinguish our role as legislators and our role as senator-judges." This gets to remind us, apparently not for some that we are not conducting a senate-inquiry where we can have a subpoena issued, that you can cross-examine a witness. As a senator-judge we cannot and we should not win the case for the prosecution. We cannot and we should not win the case for the defense. It's up for them to win or lose it. We may care for the truth or search for the truth etc., in a Congressional inquiry yes, but in an impeachment trial it's up for the prosecution and the defense as far it's practicable, we should leave it to them. And we should be passive, as far as practicable. With some of my colleagues I think it's not, well some may say it's biased, I would rather base it on frustration and exasperation na ang simple simple nung tanong hindi pa matanong-tanong.

Wow! According to Escudero wearing a robe during the trial separates one from their role as a Senator and their role as a judge. It's literally a persona being worn during a performance. As you may know a persona was a mask worn by the Greeks during their plays. 

Now, the robes are here! And they are modeled after the robes worn during the Renato Corona trial. 

https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/15/look-official-robe-of-senator-judges-for-impeachment-trial-of-vp-sara-duterte-1623

Senate President Chiz Escudero on Thursday showed the official robe senator-judges would wear during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. 

The Oxford crimson robes, modeled after those worn during the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, were fitted by the senator-judges two weeks ago in preparation for the proceedings. 

Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in February for "high crimes" including an alleged assassination plot against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Duterte's impeachment trial is tentatively scheduled to begin on July 30, under the 20th Congress.

With a two-thirds majority required for a guilty verdict, Duterte needs nine votes to preserve any hope of a future presidential run. 

Escudero said the chamber would balance its time between its legislative work and the impeachment trial.

"That's what we will try to do and balance. Hopefully, our proposed schedule will be carried by the plenary, where what I'm saying is hopefully, the trial will be in the morning and the Senate session will be in the afternoon," he said. 

Escudero said he was looking at asking his colleagues to allow committee hearings on the 2026 budget alongside the Senate plenary session in the afternoons after the impeachment trial.

"We should allow committee hearings in the afternoon at the same time as the plenary. If the minority allows it, then please don't be too strict about the quorum, especially when we are discussing local bills and when we have discussed the budget," he said.

Why must they be red? Why can't they be a more solemn black? Obviously my opinions and questions do not matter as I am no fashion autere. Whatever they verdict will be we can rest assured knowing these Senators will be doing their thing on the catwalk.