Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito and Senator Raffy Tulfo said they would prefer the Supreme Court to settle the issue of the voting requirement in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, September 9, the two senators said having the high court interpret the constitutional provision on the two-thirds vote needed for conviction could spare senator-judges from making a potentially divisive decision.
Tulfo said he favored letting the Supreme Court resolve the matter.
“That I don’t know, pero kung ako—opinion ko lang ’yan—kung ako, SC mag-decide para wala nang away,” Tulfo said.
Ejercito expressed a similar position, although he acknowledged that the impeachment court could ultimately be required to decide the issue itself.
“Ako, kung gusto ko sana sa Supreme Court na para hindi na kami mahirapan din. Pero depende kung anong gusto ng Impeachment Court, ng judges. Depende mapag-uusapan on Sept. 23. We may just have to make the decision kung saka-sakali,” he said.
The dispute concerns the constitutional provision requiring the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate to convict an impeached official.
Using the full 24-member Senate as the basis, the current requirement is 16 votes for conviction. However, only 20 senators are presently serving as members of the impeachment court, prompting questions over whether the threshold should be recalculated.
Four senator-judges are currently absent: Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, who are detained in connection with separate plunder cases; Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who remains wanted by the International Criminal Court; and Senator Loren Legarda, who is on extended medical leave overseas.
The impeachment court will hear the views of its amici curiae, or friends of the court, on September 16 as it considers the constitutional question.
Those invited to provide their opinions are retired Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno and Hilario Davide Jr., as well as retired Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna.
The House prosecution team and Duterte’s defense lawyers are scheduled to present their arguments on the voting threshold on September 23.
The impeachment court is also expected to resolve the issue that day, including whether to maintain the 16-vote requirement or adopt a different threshold based on the number of senators currently participating in the proceedings.