Photo credit: Senate PH

Senate President Chiz Escudero is hitting pause—at least for a few more days—on the highly anticipated presentation of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte. Instead of the original June 2 schedule, Escudero announced it’s now happening on June 11, 2025.

Why the delay? Simple: there’s a legislative backlog that needs urgent attention.

In a letter sent to House Speaker Martin Romualdez (and also shared with the Vice President’s office), Escudero explained that the Senate only has six session days left before Congress adjourns on June 14. That’s not a lot of time, especially with a dozen priority bills still waiting in the wings.

“These are measures we promised to pass before this Congress ends,” Escudero emphasized. “And they’re crucial to meeting the country’s needs.”

So, what’s on the priority list? Here’s a quick rundown of the top bills Congress wants to push through:

• Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act
• The E-Governance Act
• The Konektadong Pinoy Act (Open Access in Data Transmission)
• Fiscal reforms in mining
• Updates to the Universal Health Care Act
• Creation of the Virology Institute of the Philippines
• The Government Optimization Act
• Amendments to the Right-of-Way Act
• Defining the term of office for barangay and SK officials
• Strengthening judicial fiscal autonomy
• Tax on denatured alcohol
• And the hot-button Anti-POGO Act

On top of that, the Senate is also dealing with more than 200 presidential appointments, including several cabinet secretaries, constitutional commission members, foreign service officers, and military officers.

“We can’t afford to let these important measures fall through the cracks,” Escudero added.

Once the Articles of Impeachment are formally presented on June 11, the Senate can then form itself into an impeachment court and begin the trial of VP Sara Duterte.

But until then, the message from Chiz is clear: let’s finish what needs to get done first.