Senate President Win Gatchalian denied Wednesday receiving a formal request from detained Senator Rodante Marcoleta asking the chamber to allow him and fellow detainee Senator Jinggoy Estrada to participate in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. 

Although he acknowledged that Marcoleta supplied the Senate impeachment court with a manifestation letter during the early stage of the proceedings, Gatchalian said it contained no explicit appeal that they be allowed to partake in the trial, contrary to Marcoleta’s claims.

“There has been no formal request to the Senate... It’s a conversation taking place in various forums, but as for me, I haven’t received anything,” the Senate leader told reporters in an ambush. 

In a chance interview at the Sandiganbayan on Tuesday, Marcoleta urged his colleagues to find ways to allow him and Estrada to join the trial despite them being detained for separate plunder charges. 

Marcoleta argued that his detention does not automatically remove him from office, and that the number of senators remains fixed at 24 as constitutionally mandated.

“It will never be altered,” Marcoleta pointed out. 

Gatchalian, on the other hand, maintained that there was no indication in Marcoleta’s letter requesting they be allowed to partake in the trial because the contents are merely  “about his opinion on the presiding officer as well as the 16 votes [threshold].”

A conviction requires a two-thirds, or equivalent to 16, vote from the majority of all senator-judges.

A two-thirds vote, or equivalent to 16 of the 24 sitting senators, is needed to convict Duterte in any of the four charges she is facing before the impeachment court. 

 However, given the current composition of the Senate, with Marcoleta, Estrada and Senator Bato dela Rosa unable to attend the trial due to their legal troubles, the question over whether the conviction threshold will be lowered remains unresolved.

Gatchalian suggested that it would be futile to allow Estrada to partake since he is suspended, thereby automatically barred from exercising his legislative duties and functions.

Impeachment court presiding officer Chiz Escudero previously stated that they will tackle Marcoleta’s letter in a regular Senate session, though he “inclined to agree” with his recommendation as long as he is not facing a suspension order.

Deputy Minority Leader Imee Marcos, an ally of the detained senators, expressed hope that the chamber’s leadership will grant the request to allow them to join the trial even on Zoom or virtually.

“They have been discussing that for a long time. After all, they are senators elected by the people. We need to respect the mandate given to our senators by the majority,” she told reporters in Filipino on Wednesday.