Senate court lowers conviction voting threshold in Duterte impeachment trial

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IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. The Senate impeachment court in session for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, September 23, voted to lower the voting threshold for the conviction of Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment trial.

With 13 affirmative votes and one negative vote, senator-judges approved the September 8 appeal of Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo seeking to overturn the July 6 ruling of impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

The court ruled that the voting baseline should include only senator-judges who are “legally and factually capable” of participating in the trial.

This excludes those who are detained, suspended or otherwise restrained from legally exercising their functions; those being sought by authorities whose whereabouts are unknown; those suffering from physical or medical incapacity; those beyond the coercive processes of the Senate; and others similarly situated.

Six members of the Senate minority bloc — Senator-judges Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Robin Padilla, Cynthia Villar, Imee Marcos, and Bong Go — were absent from the afternoon proceedings.

Marcos, in an ambush interview, said they decided not to participate in the voting, reiterating their position that the impeachment court’s interpretation of the voting threshold is unconstitutional.

Before the court went on a lunch break on Wednesday, senator-judges also rejected a point of order raised by Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano, who argued that the Senate impeachment court has no authority to interpret the voting threshold.

The point of order was rejected with 13 votes in favor of proceeding with the issue, six against, and one abstention.

Senator-judge Mark Villar abstained from the vote on Cayetano’s point of order. He later voted in favor of lowering the threshold.

“We are raising a point of order of the power of the impeachment court to raise this issue at this time,” Cayetano said.

To recall, Tulfo sought to reverse Escudero’s July 6 decision and revisit the voting threshold for Duterte’s conviction amid the prolonged absence of four senator-judges — Loren Legarda, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta, and Jinggoy Estrada.

Legarda remains on extended medical leave abroad, while Dela Rosa is in hiding due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged crimes against humanity stemming from the Duterte administration’s drug war.

Marcoleta and Estrada are detained over separate plunder charges.

To guide the court in its decision, Escudero had invited four retired Supreme Court justices last week to serve as amici curiae, or “friends of the court,” and provide their legal views on the issue.

Retired Chief Justices Reynato Puno, Hilario Davide Jr., and Artemio Panganiban took the position that the number of votes needed to remove an impeached official is not fixed at 16, while retired associate justice Adolfo Azcuna maintained that the voting basis should be anchored on the entire membership (24) of the Senate.

“The framers of the Constitution of 1935, 1973, and 1986 would never have intended to include in ‘all members’… those who cannot participate in the hearings and deliberations on the impeachment, such as those outside the jurisdiction of the Philippines, or whose whereabouts are unknown or are in hiding to avoid arrest,” Davide stated in a written position read by the Senate secretary on September 16.

Puno and Panganiban shared Davide’s view, while Azcuna maintained that the voting threshold should remain at 16.

Under Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution, the Senate has the sole power to try and decide impeachment cases. Conviction requires the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. – Rappler.com