MANILA – The House prosecution panel on Wednesday backed proposals to move the Senate impeachment court’s proceedings involving Vice President Sara Z. Duterte to 3 p.m. onwards and add Friday as an additional trial day to make up for weather-related disruptions.

House impeachment team adviser and spokesperson Ace Barbers said the proposed schedule would allow senators and House members to attend to legislative and committee work in the morning before proceeding with the impeachment trial in the afternoon.

“Morning ’yung legislative work, and then 3 p.m. one to sawa, ‘ika nga, eh doon na natin talakayin itong impeachment,” Barbers said during an online press briefing.

“Dahil equally important din naman itong usaping ito, kagaya ng ginagawang legislation ng ating mga senador at ating mga kongresista,” added Barbers, a former Surigao del Norte representative.

Barbers noted that Thursdays are generally devoted to Senate committee hearings and suggested retaining that schedule while using Friday as an additional impeachment trial day.

“If and when they want to extend a little bit more and become patriotic, ‘ika nga, magdagdag ng Friday. ’Yung Friday, libre ’yung araw na ’yun eh. Pwede namang gawin for trial lang the whole day, kung gusto nila, ‘no?” he said.

“Para ’yung Thursday, gawin lang nila for committee hearings, and then Friday, pwede na siguro silang mag-impeachment diyan,” Barbers added.

The proposal came after the Senate impeachment court failed to hold proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday due to inclement weather, delaying the House prosecution’s presentation of evidence on the first article of impeachment.

Article I involves Duterte’s alleged misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation of PHP612.5 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education.

Under the current schedule, the impeachment court conducts trial proceedings from Monday to Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., before the Senate holds its regular plenary session.

Barbers said adding another trial day could help prevent the proceedings from extending for several months.

“I think, if we want to finish this as early as possible, siguro para hindi tayo abutin ng Pasko, eh siguro magdagdag ng isang araw,” he said.

House prosecution counsel Lorna Kapunan likewise supported moving the trial to the afternoon, saying the arrangement would allow both chambers to perform their legislative duties and committee work before the impeachment proceedings.

“Ang ideal diyan, eh dapat sana ang impeachment eh three o’clock na. Para makatuloy-tuloy na hanggang, so that both houses can do their legislative work in the morning or committee hearings, tapos ng three o’clock, hanggang sawa na ’yun. Three to the evening,” Kapunan said.

She added that a later start would allow the impeachment court to continue hearings into the evening instead of stopping when the Senate’s regular plenary session begins.

“To me, the sooner the better,” Kapunan said when asked when the proposed schedule should take effect.