Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero told senator-judges that the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte would move more quickly in the coming days after the proceedings on the first witness stretched for hours.

Responding to an appeal from Senator Bam Aquino for both the prosecution and defense to streamline their presentations, Escudero likened the trial to a diesel engine that takes time to warm up before gaining speed.

"Usually, ang mga paglilitis tulad nito parang diesel 'yan. Sa simula, siyempre dahil una pa lamang, nagkakasanayan, nagkakaestimahan, pero bibilis at bibilis ito sa pagdaloy ng ilang araw lang ng trial natin (Trials like this are like diesel. At the start, since it’s still new, people are getting used to each other and figuring things out, but as the days of our trial go on, it will flow faster and faster)," Escudero said.

"You'll be able to see that in the next couple of days," he added.

Aquino made the appeal after the court concluded hearing testimony from its first witness. He noted that the proceedings had taken around nine hours.

Addressing both the House prosecution panel and Vice President Duterte's defense team, Aquino urged them to keep future witness examinations focused so that senator-judges and the public could more easily understand the evidence being presented.

"Tapos na po tayo sa unang witness (We're done with the first witness). It's taken us maybe a total of nine hours for the first witness," Aquino said.

He stressed that his remarks were not an order but a plea to both parties, and said the impeachment court was "the people's tribunal" and that Filipinos were closely following the proceedings.

"If possible, can we allow the testimonies to be heard? Can we have proceedings that will go straight to the point?" Aquino said.

He said more focused presentations would help senator-judges better evaluate the evidence and eventually decide the case on its merits.

Zuleika Lopez, chief of staff of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), was subpoenaed to appear in the impeachment trial next week.

Aside from Lopez, two other individuals would be asked to testify on Article IV of the articles of impeachment, which details the charges of grave threats Duterte made against ranking government officials.

The other two persons that the prosecution has lined up as their witnesses are lawyer Jeremy Lotoc of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Capt. Belinda Bello of the House of Representatives’ Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms.