Manila, July 9 -- Impeachment Clerk of Court and Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. on Thursday clarified that his meeting with Vice President Sara Duterte's chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, dealt only with administrative arrangements for the impeachment trial and had nothing to do with the merits of the case.

In an interview, Bantug said Lopez met with him to discuss seat allocations, holding area arrangements, equipment, catering, media access, and possible security coordination if Duterte decides to attend any of the trial days.

"Purely administrative, like ilan daw ba ang guests na pwede lang, ilang seats ang pwede ma-allocate ng Senate sa guests ng defense. Sabi ko (It was purely administrative, such as how many guests would ...