Luistro seeks lower Senate vote threshold for Sara conviction

The lead prosecutor in the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte argued Friday that the constitutional two-thirds vote required for conviction should only count senators who are within the Senate’s “coercive power.”

Representative Gerville Luistro said in a radio interview that the law must evolve to address modern realities.

She anchored her position on the Supreme Court’s 1949 ruling in Avelino v. Cuenco, which recognized that legislative bodies may compute quorum and voting thresholds based on members who can actually be compelled to attend.

Luistro cited that while the Philippine Constitution requires the concurrence of “two-thirds of all the members of the Senate” to convict an impeachable official, it does not explicitly specify the number 24, which is the chamber’s full complement.

“It did not say 24. It said, two-thirds of all the members of the Senate,” Luistro said. “So the number should be adjusted and lowered to a number which is within the coercive power of the Senate.”

To support her argument, Luistro raised hypothetical scenarios involving senators who are detained or deliberately hiding to avoid proceedings.

“If your senator is in jail or hiding, are they still representing the interests of the Filipino people?” Luistro asked.