Philippines – The Senate impeachment court will keep the 16-vote requirement needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte, shutting down calls to lower the bar even as some senator-judges remain absent or unable to take part in the proceedings.
According to a statement from the Senate impeachment court spokesperson, Reginald Tongol, adjusting the conviction threshold in the middle of the trial would be “dangerous” and would undermine the fairness of the process. The clarification came after the prosecution questioned whether fewer participating judges should mean fewer votes to convict.
Why the Threshold Won’t Budge
Tongol was firm: the rules of the trial cannot bend to suit either side.
“We are not just playing here for the convenience of the parties to change the rules mid-trial,” he said. “The impeachment court does not act for the convenience of either the prosecution or the defense. It is acting to uphold the due process requirements under the law.”
He pointed to presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero’s July 6 ruling, which fixed the threshold at 16 votes. That decision, Tongol said, is “set in stone” unless the Supreme Court overturns it. He also raised doubts about whether senator-judges could still challenge the ruling internally, since the window to appeal may have already closed.
The Legal Backing
The 16-vote requirement isn’t just a number pulled from the air. Tongol cited two key pillars supporting it:
- The 2000 Supreme Court ruling in Bayan v. Zamora — This decision treats the Senate as a full 24-member body, no matter how many senators are physically present on any given day.
- The intent of the 1987 Constitution’s framers — They deliberately set a high bar for impeachment because it removes an official put in place by a national vote.
“Two-thirds is not a simple majority,” Tongol explained. “It was the intention of the framers of the Constitution to make it hard for impeachment to happen.”
Former Justice Weighs In
Former Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna backed the court’s position. He said that absent senator-judges do not shrink the number of votes needed to convict. Their absence simply means they cannot add to the 16 votes required — the target stays the same.
For Filipinos abroad watching the case closely, the message is clear: the numbers won’t change, and the outcome will hinge on how the present senator-judges vote when the trial reaches its conclusion.