Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III says the Senate will conduct a pre-trial should the House of Representatives transmit the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, drawing from lessons learned during past proceedings.

In a radio interview over DZBB on Monday, May 4, Sotto emphasized that once the Articles of Impeachment are received and initial procedural steps are completed, the Senate should move to pre-trial before proceeding to the trial proper.

“Dapat mag-pre-trial (There should be a pre-trial),” Sotto said, noting that the step is necessary to streamline proceedings and avoid confusion during the presentation of evidence and witnesses.

He cited the Senate’s experience in the Corona impeachment case, when the trial began without a pre-trial phase. According to Sotto, this led to disorganized presentations, prompting then-presiding officer, the late former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, to call for a pre-trial in the middle of the proceedings.

“Pagdating ng February, nagkakagulo sa mga presentasyon kasi walang pre-trial (By February, things went awry with the presentation since there was no pre-trial),” Sotto recalled.

“Hindi puwedeng nagbibiglaan, nagsusurprise (Things should not happen abruptly or with surprises),” he added.

Under the proposed approach, the pre-trial will cover the marking of evidence, identification of witnesses, and stipulation of facts to help expedite the trial and improve court management.

Sotto said this process is consistent with the Senate’s rules, which adopt the Rules of Court in a suppletory manner.

As for the timeline, he said the pre-trial could begin after the exchange of pleadings between the prosecution and the impeached official, including 10 days for the respondent to answer and five days for the prosecution’s reply.

If proceedings move without delay, Sotto estimates that the trial proper could begin by mid-June, or at the latest, by the last week of June.