Senator Rodante Marcoleta said Thursday, September 17, that he does not plan to seek furlough from detention to participate in the Senate’s upcoming vote on the disputed conviction threshold in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Marcoleta maintained that the required number of votes for conviction is already clearly provided under the 1987 Constitution, leaving no need for further debate on the issue.
“The threshold is a subject of votation. It’s already in the Constitution. Nobody has the right to change the language of the Constitution. The Constitution says that no person should be a judge guilty without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. That’s it,” Marcoleta said during a press conference at the Sandiganbayan premises.
The senator said he sees no reason to request temporary release simply to cast his vote on the procedural question.
Marcoleta also expressed disappointment over the Senate’s decision not to act on his earlier manifestation questioning Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s authority as presiding officer of the impeachment court and challenging the adoption of the 16-vote requirement for conviction.
The impeachment court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on September 23 on the appropriate voting threshold. Escudero previously ruled that 16 votes, or two-thirds of the 24-member Senate, are required to convict an impeached official.
The dispute stems from the constitutional provision requiring the concurrence of “two-thirds of all the members of the Senate,” with questions arising over how the requirement should be applied while some senator-judges are unable to participate in the proceedings.
On September 16, retired Supreme Court justices who appeared before the impeachment court as amici curiae offered differing interpretations of the constitutional provision and how the voting requirement should be applied under the circumstances surrounding the trial.