Second threshold SC challenge filed

A petition filed by lawyer Ernesto B. Francisco Jr. before the Supreme Court yesterday challenged the Senate impeachment court’s new ruling on the number of votes needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte.

Francisco filed the petition for certiorari and prohibition, asking the Supreme Court to declare the Senate impeachment court’s 23 Sept. 2026 ruling unconstitutional and to stop its implementation through a status quo ante order.

The petition came a day after former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez separately asked the Supreme Court to nullify the same Senate ruling and sought a temporary restraining order.

Francisco’s petition centers on the constitutional requirement that an impeachable official cannot be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all members of the Senate.

He argued that because the Senate has 24 members, the constitutional threshold is 16 votes.

“The 1987 Philippine Constitution clearly provide[s] that in order for an impeachable official to be convicted by the public respondent Senate Impeachment Court, there must be a concurrence of ‘two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate,’” the petition said. It computed the requirement at 16 votes.