Senate Impeachment Court Conviction Vote Threshold Faces Scrutiny Amid Senator Absence

The House prosecution team on Friday said reducing the required 16 votes for the conviction of Vice President Sara Duterte before the Senate impeachment court is a fair move amid the non-participation of at least four senator-judges in the said proceedings. House prosecution panel adviser Ace Barbers and Manila Rep. Benny Abante made the response after Senator-judge Juan Miguel Zubiri said the required 16 votes should be revisited since not all 24 senators are able to participate in the trial for various reasons. “How can a judge make a fair and objective decision when they are yet to hear and examine the witnesses and other evidence? That would be be unfair for the accused also if the judge will rule on a case when that judge was not inside the court the whole time,” Barbers said in an online press conference. Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are detained on plunder and other related charges due to their alleged involvement in flood control 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. “That is why I am in favor of the call of Senator Migz to bring down the 16 votes threshold,” Barbers added. Abante agreed with Barbers, saying that a judge’s non-attendance in the proceedings is something that cannot be overlooked. “Is our Constitution really explicit in stating that the threshold is 16? I would say the threshold was set on the presumption that everyone is participating in the proceeding,” Abante, vice chairperson of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said. Under the 1987 Constitution, the Senate has the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. “The judge must be there, present. But although I’m in favor of it, still, that [matter] would be a decision of the Supreme Court,” Abante added. Barbers, however, said now is not yet the time for the prosecution to file a petition with the Supreme Court to address the matter. “Is not yet the appropriate time to bring this [threshold issue] before the Supreme Court because we are still presenting our evidence on the four Articles of Impeachment,” Barbers said. Still, Barbers said that the prosecution remains confident that it can meet the required number of votes to convict with its airtight evidence. “We can get a conviction, whatever the number is,” Barbers said. — RSJ, GMA News