Zuleika Lopez arrives at Senate on Day 5 of impeachment trial

Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, the longtime aide of Vice President Sara Duterte, arrived at the Senate on Tuesday, the fifth day of the impeachment trial of the country's second highest official.

Lopez came at the Senate past 1 p.m. ahead of the resumption of the trial at 2 p.m.

She went straight to the Recto room, the holding area for the defense panel.

It is still uncertain if Duterte will also go to the Senate on Tuesday to attend the trial or to visit her team.

She is set to be presented by the House prosecution panel as its third witness in the trial in connection with the Article 4 of the Articles of Impeachment, relating to the supposed grave threats and assassination plot against President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, earlier issued a subpoena ad testificandum to Lopez upon the request of the prosecution team.

Lopez also went to the Senate on July 9—a non-trial date and a day after the issuance of the subpoena—to visit the office of Senate Secretary and Clerk of Court Renato Bantug Jr. for what were described as "mainly administrative" matters.

'Scheduled meetings'

Atty. Michael Poa, one of Duterte’s lawyers, said it was uncertain if the Vice President would arrive at the Senate to appear before the impeachment proceedings.

“Hindi pa siya sure kung makakapunta siya today…dahil mayroong siyang scheduled meetings. Titingnan pa raw kung makakahabol or hindi,” Poa told reporters.

(It’s still uncertain if she would attend the trial because she has scheduled meetings. We’ll see if she can still make it.)

Poa also said Duterte may also attend the impeachment trial to support her employees, including Lopez.

“Hindi namin dini-discount. Ayoko lang sabihin categorically kasi hindi pa sya sure. Ang huling sabi nya sakin when I was trying to confirm kung pupunta sya, kasi she’s in Manila, but she has several meetings scheduled, titingnan nya lang kung makakahabol sya. I guess it will depend on kung mayroon pang ongoing at that time,” he said.

(We’re not discounting the possibility, but we’re not saying anything categorically. What she told me, when I was confirming her attendance, was she will try to make it. I guess it will depend if she still has ongoing meetings at that time.)

Poa added: “She didn’t tell me, but we don’t have a scheduled meeting. So probably it would be to provide support to her employees, which she always does naman, not just the chief-of-staff.

(The defense doesn’t have any scheduled meetings with her. If she would come, it would probably to provide support to her employees, which she always does, not just for the chief-of-staff.) —VDV/NB, GMA News