Palace leaves impeachment vote threshold to Senate
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said Thursday, September 17, that it would stay out of the Senate impeachment court’s deliberations on the number of votes needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment case.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro made the statement following the appearance of former members of the Supreme Court in the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, September 16, to help resolve the voting threshold issue.
“Muli, ang Palasyo ay hindi po manghihimasok kung ano man po ang sasabihin or magiging desisyon ng Senado dahil malinaw naman po ang sinabi ng mga justices natin. Dapat ito ay para sa katotohanan. Truth, fairness and justice,” Castro said in a press briefing.
(Again, the Palace will not intervene in the decisions of the Senate because our justices have made it clear already that the decision must be for truth. Truth, fairness and justice.)
Retired chief justices Artemio Panganiban and Reynato Puno, including retired Supreme Court associate justice Adolfo Azcuna, personally appeared before the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday as amici curiae, or friends of the court, to answer questions from senator-judges.
Retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., meanwhile, sent a memorandum containing his views on the voting threshold issue.
“Naging maganda po ang naging talakayan ng mga amici curiae sa nasabing conference dahil mas naliwanagan ang taong-bayan. Naliwanagan din po siguro ang mga maraming mga mambabatas patungkol sa issue sa threshold,” Castro said.
(The discussion among the amici curiae during the conference went well, because it helped clarify the issue for the public. It may have also helped many lawmakers with the threshold issue.)
Senate’s decision
The senator-judges tapped the help of former justices to resolve what the constitutional rule on the required “two-thirds of all members of the Senate” for conviction means.
The Senate impeachment court is trying to determine whether the rule covers the entire 24 elected senators, or only those who are actively participating in the trial, excluding those who are jailed, out of the country, or in hiding.
While Panganiban, Puno, and Davide expressed that the rule must not be interpreted literally, Azcuna said the rule means 16 votes out of the 24 senator-judges are needed for conviction.
The chief justices, however, said the Senate impeachment court has the “sole power” to decide on the voting threshold issue.
This was backed by the Palace, saying that any decision that will come up from the senator-judges’ differing interpretations of the rule no longer concerns the administration.
“Hindi po nangangamba ang Palasyo dahil kahit ano po ang kanilang maging opinyon diyan, ‘yan po ang kanilang magiging pagpapasya. So kung ano po ang mangyayari sa Senado, nasa kanilang responsibilidad 'yan; wala po sa administrasyon,” Castro said.
(The Palace is not concerned, because whatever their opinions will be, those will be their decisions. So whatever happens in the senate, that’s their responsibility, not the administration’s.)
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