Padilla, Go, others ask Supreme Court to restore 16-vote threshold
MANILA, Philippines — PDP-Laban party-aligned lawmakers and individuals have asked the Supreme Court to restore the mandatory 16-vote supermajority required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a petition for Certiorari and Prohibition filed on October 6, Sens. Robin Padilla and Bong Go, along with the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and several lawyers, challenged the Senate Impeachment Court's September 23 ruling lowering the conviction threshold.
Joining Padilla, Go, and PDP-Laban as co-petitioners is former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. Also included as co-petitioners are Israelito Torreon, Jimmy Bondoc, Ferdinand Topacio, Raul Lambino, Resci Angelli Rizada-Nolasco and actor Philip Salvador.
The petition names the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, presiding officer Francis Escudero, and the House of Representatives as respondents, while also seeking an urgent Status Quo Ante Order, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), or Writ of Preliminary Injunction to halt the implementation of the new rule.
The petitioners maintained that the Constitution strictly requires a two-thirds vote — or at least 16 of the 24 sitting senators — to convict, and requested that any judgment rendered with fewer than 16 votes be declared void from the start and permanently prohibited.
“This case is not about whether the Vice President should be convicted or acquitted,” the petitioners, through the Law Firm of Torreon and Partners, said in a statement.
“It is about the number the Constitution requires before any conviction can lawfully be rendered. The Constitution says two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate. With twenty-four Senators, that is sixteen,” it added.
The Senate Impeachment Court’s ruling — adopted by a 13-1 vote with six senator-judges abstaining or absent — overturned a July 6 ruling by the Presiding Officer that maintained a fixed 16-vote threshold.
On September 30, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging the Senate Impeachment Court’s interpretation of the two-thirds vote requirement needed to convict Duterte.
The high court dismissed the petitions for lack of standing and prematurity.
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