Senate President Francis Escudero took his oath Monday evening as the presiding officer of the impeachment court to try Vice President Sara Duterte for abuse of discretion and violation of the Constitution.

The 22 senators will take their oaths as judges at 4 pm Tuesday and in a motion presented by Senator Joel Villanueva and approved by Escudero, the Senate will not yet be convened as an impeachment court.

There was mild applause from the plenary after Escudero finished taking his oath before the Senate secretary Renato Bantug.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III at the start of the day's plenary session moved for the upper chamber to convene as an impeachment court for the trial of Duterte after Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a press conference earlier in the day that the two-man minority will push for this.

Pimentel motioned to suspend the Senate’s legislative business, convene the Senate as an impeachment court ‘at this very moment’, and for the Senate president to immediately take his oath as presiding officer of the impeachment court.

Pimentel also motioned for the Senate president to administer the oath of all senators present in the plenary, for the impeachment court to come up with a calendar for the trial, the presentation and reading of charges against Duterte by the House of Representatives’ panel of prosecutors on June 10, and for the impeachment court to issue the writ of summons to the impeached officer.

“Let me be clear ? what we’re discussing here is the constitutional duty of the Senate, not whether the impeached officer is guilty or not. The verdict comes later, after the trial,” Pimentel said.

Hontiveros seconded Pimentel’s motion.

“My fellow countrymen, we will not allow the Senate to be the first to defy the Constitution. That is why this afternoon, later in the plenary, we in the Senate minority will take action to begin fulfilling our constitutional duty,” Hontiveros said.

After resuming following a one-hour suspension of session, Senator Joel Villanueva moved that Senate President Francis Escudero take his oath as presiding officer of the impeachment court but adds that it should be convened on June 11.

The Impeachment complaint from the House of Representatives was also referred to the Senate Committee on rules Monday night.

Senator Robin Padilla also filed a resolution seeking the dismissal of the impeachment trial against Duterte.

No vote has been taken by the Senate on this in plenary as of Monday evening.

Escudero had moved the presentation of the articles of impeachment from the initial June 4 to June 11, earning criticism from various universities, academics, and militant groups for delaying the impeachment process. DMS/Velle White