Impeachment court lowers voting threshold to convict Sara Duterte - GMA Network

The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday voted to lower the threshold required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment trial.

Thirteen senators voted in favor of the motion put forward by Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo who sought reconsideration of the July 6 ruling that the voting threshold is set at 16 which is two-thirds of the 24-member Senate.

This came following the presentation of arguments by the House prosecution panel and Duterte’s defense team. The parties were given 15 minutes each.

Tulfo sought consideration since four of their colleagues have not been present in the impeachment trial proceedings.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are detained on plunder and other related charges due to their alleged involvement in flood control projects and undeclared campaign donations, respectively.

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found amid a standing warrant of arrest issued against him by the International Criminal Court due to his alleged involvement in the drug war deaths.

Senator Loren Legarda, for her part, is on an extended medical leave abroad due to a lung ailment.

The 1987 Constitution states that "no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate."

In early September, the impeachment court invited retired Supreme Court Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno, and Hilario Davide Jr. and Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna as amici curiae or friends of the court.

Panganiban, Puno, and Davide said that the voting threshold should be based on the number of senator-judges who actively participated in the impeachment trial.

However, Azcuna, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, offered a different view that the two-thirds concurrence requirement should relate to the entire membership of the Senate; hence, a conviction by 16 senator-judges is needed. —LDF/AOL, GMA News