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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Cayetano informs colleagues Senate to convene as an impeachment court on Monday, May 18

Cayetano informs colleagues Senate to convene as an impeachment court on Monday, May 18

Published May 17, 2026 03:19 pm

At A Glance

  • In a letter he sent to the offices of the 23 senators, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano asked them to be present at the Senate session hall on the said date and time and to be prepared to don their robes.


Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has formally informed members of the Upper Chamber that the Senate will convene as an impeachment court on Monday, May 18 at 3 p.m.

In a letter he sent to the offices of the 23 senators, Cayetano asked them to be present at the Senate session hall on the said date and time and to be prepared to don their robes.

“You are accordingly requested to be present at the Session Hall on the said date and time. In observance of the solemnity of the proceedings and pursuant to the Senate’s Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, all senator-judges are enjoined to wear their robes upon the convening of the Impeachment Court,” Cayetano said.

“Your presence and cooperation are essential to the proper and orderly conduct of these proceedings,” he stressed.

Earlier, Cayetano assured the public that the Senate is ready to fulfill its constitutional duty and will not delay the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

He made the promise after getting elected last Monday, May 11 in a sudden leadership shake up at the Senate.

The new Senate leader said the Upper Chamber will convene as an impeachment court “forthwith” upon receipt of the Articles of the Impeachment against Duterte from the House of Representatives.

According to Cayetano, he already talked with the members of the majority and that they are all in agreement that the rules that were good for the past impeachment are also good for Monday's proceeding.

“Whoever is plotting the narrative that the leadership was changed to delay the impeachment, it is absolutely not true,” he said.

Against this backdrop, however, looms another possible Senate coup as talks of a new Senate leader swirls a week after his election.

The Senate received the Articles of Impeachment from the House of Representatives on the evening of Wednesday, May 13, 2026. That evening, a shooting incident rocked the premises of the Upper Chamber.

Cayetano rejected claims that the Senate was in chaos, saying the institution was being targeted.

But after the May 13 shooting incident, Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who helped secure the 13 votes needed for Cayetano to be elected Senate president, was able to slip out of the Senate at dawn the following day, Thursday.

Related Tags

Alan Peter Cayetano Senate leadership change VP Sara Duterte impeachment impeachment court
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