Manila, Philippines — In its September 23 ruling, the Senate Impeachment Court effectively adjusted the base denominator for the voting threshold required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte who is currently under an impeachment trial.
Under the ruling, the two-thirds denominator for the vote threshold will depend on the number of senator-judges who are present and legally qualified to vote for or against the impeachment.
Thus, with 20 current senator-judges participating in the trial, 14 votes will be needed to convict or acquit Duterte.
This is down from the supposed 16 votes required if all 24 senator-judges were present.
Duterte’s defense team objected to the decision and is studying the legal remedies available to them, including the possibility of appealing the ruling before the Supreme Court.
But even before the defense could take action, Atty. Vic Rodriguez had already filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to nullify the ruling of the Senate Impeachment Court.
In his petition for certiorari and prohibition filed Wednesday, Rodriguez asked the Supreme Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the Senate Impeachment Tribunal from implementing its September 23 rulings.
According to Rodriguez, the ruling may be considered a constitutional amendment because it changed the operative meaning of Article XI, Section 3(6) concerning the voting threshold in an impeachment trial.
He argued that the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, has no authority to alter what is provided in the Constitution.
He also maintained that the law clearly states that two-thirds of all members of the Senate is required to convict an impeachable officer on trial.
He said the move constitutes grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.
Aside from the TRO, the petitioner is also asking the Supreme Court to issue a writ of preliminary injunction while the High Court has yet to issue a final decision.
For the final determination, Rodriguez wants the Supreme Court to declare that the required voting threshold in Duterte’s impeachment trial is two-thirds, or 16 of the 24 members of the Senate Impeachment Court.
He also wants the Court to declare as void the Senate ruling that excludes senators who are legally unable to participate in the voting from the count.
Rodriguez served as the campaign spokesperson and chief of staff of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2022 elections.
After Marcos won, Rodriguez served as Executive Secretary of the administration until September 2022.
By November of that year, Rodriguez was expelled from the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Marcos’ political party, over allegations of incompetence and breach of trust.—Mia Layaguin, Eurotv News