Manila, July 14 -- The Senate impeachment court on Monday night ruled to move the testimony of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag to July 20, allowing him to appear before the impeachment court before departing later that day for an official engagement in Bangkok, Thailand.

Earlier in the proceedings, the House prosecution asked the impeachment court to allow Matibag to testify ahead of the scheduled witness lineup after the NBI chief sought an earlier appearance because of his participation in a regional summit on scam center compounds and transnational organized crime on July 21-22.

The request drew objections from the defense, which argued that changing the order of witnesses on short notice would be prej...