Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday asked the Senate Impeachment Court to file a formal request with the Sandiganbayan to allow detained Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying all senator-judges should be able to personally assess the witnesses and evidence before their votes are counted.
A lawyer himself, Cayetano noted that the two senators’ absence would effectively result in acquittal votes without them having heard the evidence and witnesses, which he said would run counter to the fair trial that all sides should want.
“As we said from the start, we want justice. We want a fair impeachment trial. Sinabi ng prosecution na sana tingnan ang ebidensya, pakinggan mga witnesses. So allowing them to attend here might add to the integrity of the proceeding and actually make things easier when the time comes to render a verdict,” he said on the first day of the impeachment trial on July 6, 2026.
Cayetano raised the proposal after presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero assured the court that it would “literally” follow the 16 out of 24 votes required to convict Duterte under Article XI, Section 3(6) of the Constitution.
The Senate, however, is currently not complete. Estrada is detained over alleged plunder and graft charges after publicly refusing to leave Cayetano’s bloc. Marcoleta, meanwhile, was arrested hours before the impeachment trial over an alleged plunder case involving campaign donations.
Cayetano explained that while Estrada is currently suspended, the impeachment court is sui generis, or a body of its own kind, and that the senators should be allowed to carry out their constitutional duty as judges in an impeachment trial.
He said he wanted to raise the matter so it could be discussed “at the proper time.”
“I’d like to formally ask that this court consider that, whether you’ll rather have a caucus or an in-camera discussion, or if you want us all to submit our legal opinion. I wouldn’t also mind the prosecution and the defense weighing in,” Cayetano said.
He said allowing Estrada and Marcoleta to attend would help protect the integrity of the impeachment trial by ensuring that senator-judges render judgment only after personally hearing the case.
“We do not know what will happen. Their case may be dismissed, they can be out on bail. So we want them to be able to participate and observe the witnesses as senator-judges here,” he said.###
