House prosecution panel leaves impeachment vote threshold to Senate

The House prosecution panel will remain focused on presenting its evidence and leave it to the Senate impeachment court to decide how the constitutional voting threshold for conviction should be interpreted, a lawmaker said.

Public prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon said prosecutors in the ongoing impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte remain focused on reaching the threshold established when the trial began on 6 July.

“At the moment, we will let the senator-judges decide on this. Our focus remains on what was previously stated by our presiding officer that it is 24 and therefore 16 votes are required to convict,” Ridon said during a radio interview Sunday.

His remarks came amid renewed discussions on the constitutional provision requiring a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict an impeached public official.

Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution states that conviction requires the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. The chamber is composed of 24 members under Article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution.

Questions over how the threshold should be interpreted have emerged as some senators are unable to physically attend the proceedings, including Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, who are detained over separate plunder charges.

Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has also been absent from the proceedings due to a pending warrant from the International Criminal Court, while Sen. Loren Legarda is overseas due to medical complications.

Amid these circumstances, some lawmakers and legal experts have floated the possibility of lowering the threshold required for conviction.

Lead Public Prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro was among the first officials to express support for potentially reducing the required votes to between 14 and 15.

Ridon said, however, that the matter remains in the hands of the Senate, which has invited former members of the judiciary to serve as amici curiae, or “friends of the court,” on the issue.

“In the end, it is the Senate impeachment court that will decide. But these are not ordinary lawyers, these friends of the court have a strong persuasive power. So we are anticipating that if there was a fruitful discussion on the matter, many will be convinced by their position,” he said.

The four individuals invited by the Senate to serve as amici curiae are retired Supreme Court justices and framers of the 1987 Constitution Artemio Panganiban, Reynaldo Puno, Hilario Davide Jr. and Adolf Azcuna.

The group’s participation followed an appeal raised by Sen. Erwin Tulfo as the trial approached its presumed conclusion.

House prosecution spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers said during a press conference on 9 September that the prosecution continued to maintain that 16 votes are required for conviction.

Ridon, co-leader of the prosecution team handling Article II of the impeachment complaint, reiterated that prosecutors will present evidence to convince senators to take a particular position in the trial.

“The prosecution will just present evidence that we have to accord our senator-judges to vote towards a particular position. I’m quite certain that the defense will also do it when it is their time to present evidence,” he said.

On Monday, 14 September, prosecutors are set to begin presenting evidence on the alleged unexplained wealth of the Vice President.