The Senate has yet to tackle the issue on whether Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada will be allowed to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

According to Senate leadership, they have not yet received any formal request from the two senators' camp regarding this matter.

Despite the request to be allowed to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said they have not received any formal request from the side of Senator Rodante Marcoleta and Senator Jinggoy Estrada on this matter.

"Wala namang formal request sa Senate. Maski sa akin wala namang formal request. Sa conversation na lumalabas sa iba't ibang fora.. But formally, wala naman. Well, naririnig lang natin" SP Gatchalian said.

[There's no formal request to the Senate. Even to me, there's no formal request. It's in the conversations happening in different forums.. But formally, there's none. Well, we just hear about it.]

However, the Senate President confirmed that he received a letter, but it did not state anything about how the two senators could take part in the impeachment trial.
"Yes, may letter siya addressed sa akin, but wala naman na explicit doon na nakasulat na may request for... parang formal request kung paano siya magpaparticipate. Wala namang ganun. So ang kanyang letter is about his opinion on the presiding officer, as well as yung opinion niya dun sa 16 votes." Gatchalian added.

[Yes, he has a letter addressed to me, but there's nothing explicit written there about a request for... like a formal request on how he could participate. There's nothing like that. So his letter is about his opinion on the presiding officer, as well as his opinion on the 16 votes.]

Because of this, SP Gatchalian said they have not yet taken any action or even response on this matter.

He again emphasized that if a senator is suspended, he really cannot participate in the trial.

He said that along with the suspension as senator comes the suspension of his other duties, such as being a senator-judge.

Meanwhile, for Senator Imee Marcos, she hopes their colleagues in the minority will be allowed to attend even just virtually, while they are in detention.

"Ayun nga, ayun nga, ang kinukulit namin kasi mahalaga sa amin na kasama sila. Parang hindi pa nasa sentensyahan hindi pa klaro." the Presidential sister stated.

[That's right, that's right, that's what we keep pushing for because it's important to us that they're included. It seems like it's not yet at sentencing, it's not yet clear.]

As of now, even the Senate Impeachment Court itself has not released any details regarding the issue.

But Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano had earlier suggested asking the Sandiganbayan about the participation of the two senators in the trial.

‍