Panganiban, Davide, Azcuna invited as amici curiae

MANILA, Philippines —  The Senate impeachment court has invited two retired chief justices and a retired associate justice as amici curiae or judiciary resource persons to share their insights on the voting threshold in Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial.

Impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol said they have secured the participation of retired chief justices Artemio Panganiban and Reynato Puno, and retired Supreme Court associate justice Adolf Azcuna, as “friends of the court.”

The legal luminaries will enlighten the senators on whether the impeachment court can lower the threshold of  “two-thirds of all members” or 16 of 24 senators to convict the Vice President, due to the physical absence of four senators who are on leave, at large or detained.

“The impeachment court is not leaving constitutional math to guesswork or chance,” Tongol said.

The court, he added, has also secured the participation of retired chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., who promised to submit a legal memorandum on the issue. Davide presided over the aborted impeachment trial of deposed president Joseph Estrada.

More amici curiae may be invited by the court for its scheduled briefing on the threshold issue on Sept. 16.

“The impeachment court reserves its plenary prerogative to invite additional experts should the situation demands it – so this four-man roster constitutes the Court’s list of amici curiae thus far,” Tongol said.

Oral arguments will be held on Sept. 23, after which – on the same day – the senator-judges will issue their verdict on the threshold controversy.

Carpio: Threshold can be lowered

For retired SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio, the voting threshold can be lowered to prevent an imminent “useless” interpretation of the Constitution.

“My position is that the denominator depends on who are qualified to vote,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN yesterday.

Carpio argued that sticking to the current voting threshold required for conviction may “prevent the highest officials from being accountable to the people.”

“If you interpret the Constitution as saying there must be 16 senators to convict, then you render the Constitution ineffective when there are senators who die or resign,” he pointed out.

Carpio cited the laws against graft and plunder, which he said enforce suspension on incumbent officials, as one basis for possibly lowering the voting threshold. At present, detained Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta face both plunder and graft cases.

“They are automatically mandatorily suspended as members, they cannot attend sessions and vote on any motion. How can they be a judge in the impeachment case? Legally they cannot exercise the function of a senator because they are suspended so you cannot count them because it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Also, the Constitution mandates that only the senators who took their oath should sit as judges in impeachment cases, according to Carpio.

Such a directive would not apply to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa who has not resurfaced since he slipped out of “Senate custody” in mid-May amid efforts to arrest him through a warrant from the International Criminal Court, Carpio noted.

When asked about Sen. Loren Legarda, Carpio said she was “still qualified… but she cannot vote because she has to be present to vote.”

Carpio added that Duterte may be compelled to appear as a witness during her own impeachment trial.