Senator Francis Escudero has been chosen by the Senate majority to take the rostrum when the chamber convenes as a court for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senator Panfilo Lacson said, according to ABS-CBN News.
The selection puts the gavel in the hands of a lawyer-legislator at a moment when legal footing matters. Escudero is among only five members of the Senate who hold law degrees, and just two of those sit with the majority bloc — a narrow pool that shaped the decision to hand him the role.
His designation is made possible by amendments the Senate adopted to its impeachment rules, which permit the body to elect a presiding officer rather than defaulting to the Senate president. The revision, covering cases that do not involve the President, frees the majority to install a member of its choosing for the proceedings against Duterte.
Escudero is no stranger to the seat. He held the Senate presidency until September, when he was unseated amid allegations linking him to anomalies in flood-control projects, and his earlier tenure drew scrutiny over the chamber’s handling of Duterte’s first impeachment case.
The arrangement is unlikely to go uncontested. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s camp has insisted he remains the legitimate presiding officer of the impeachment court, a position tied to the disputed June leadership shift that his allies have challenged as improperly carried out.
Looming over the question of who presides is the arithmetic of conviction. Removing the Vice President requires the votes of 16 senators, two-thirds of the 24-member chamber — a threshold that holds regardless of who occupies the chair or how many senators are in attendance.
