Only 21 senators qualified to vote in Sara Duterte impeachment, says ex-SC Justice Carpio

Retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has stated that only 21 senators are qualified to vote in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. “That’s the present situation now. 21 lang ang senator-judges natin ngayon (we only have 21 senator-judges right now),” Carpio said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB. According to Carpio, senators who are detained or have not taken their oaths should not be included in the denominator for the two-thirds voting threshold required to convict an impeached official. Carpio said the denominator depends on who are qualified to vote. “Kapag namatay ka na or you were removed or you are suspended because you are charged before the Sandiganbayan because of anti-graft or anti-plunder acts, automatically suspended ka, eh,” he said. (When you die or you were removed or you are suspended because you are charged before the Sandiganbayan for anti-graft or anti-plunder acts, you are automatically suspended.) The SC has ruled that the moment that an official is preventively under suspension for a non-bailable offense, he cannot hold public office, according to Carpio. “Ganyan din mangyayari. Si (Senators Rodante) Marcoleta at saka si Jinggoy (Estrada). They cannot go in public office. Saka under the anti-graft law, under the anti-plunder law, they are automatically and mandatorily suspended from office," he said. (The same thing will happen. Marcoleta and Jinggoy. They cannot go into public office. And under the anti-graft law, under the anti-plunder law, they are automatically and mandatorily suspended from office.) Senator Rodante Marcoleta is detained over a P75-million plunder case while Senator Jinggoy Estrada is detained over a P573-million plunder charge. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, meanwhile, has not appeared in public since his departure from the Senate premises on May 14, after authorities attempted to serve an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against him. He added that Senator Bato's problem is that he has not taken his oath. The Constitution states that when sitting as a senator-judge, they must take their oath. They must be under oath. He did not take his oath. On Wednesday, former chief justices Reynato Puno, Hilario Davide Jr., Artemio Panganiban, and former Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna took part in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte as amici curiae or friends of the court. They were asked to provide their expert opinion on the vote threshold needed to convict an impeached official, which the Constitution set at “two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.” Atty. Rodel Taton, dean of the San Sebastian College Recoletos Manila-Graduate School of Law, expressed hope that senator-judges will side with truth rather than political alliances. “Sana may mga naantig doon sa mga sinabi ng ating justices ng SC. And sana kung hindi pa sila nakapag desisyon, marapatin nilang makinig sa ebidensya, tignan ang ebidensya para maayos at tama,” he said in a separate Super Radyo dzBB interview. (We hope that some of those who heard what our SC justices said were moved by it. And hopefully, if they have not yet made a decision, they will listen to the evidence and look at the evidence so that it can be properly and correctly.) “Kasi hindi lang naman konsensya ang kailangan dito. Kailangan din nila tignan, basically, ang ebidensya na prini-present dito sa hukuman, sa impeachment court,” he added. (Because conscience alone is not what is needed here. They also need to look, basically, at the evidence being presented here before the court, the impeachment court.) Taton stressed that this is about the people and public funds. He also echoed the amici curiae’s position that it is up to the senator-judges to decide on the voting threshold.—AOL, GMA News