THE Supreme Court En Banc has dismissed three separate petitions seeking to overturn the Senate Impeachment Court’s revised voting threshold for convicting Vice President Sara Duterte, ruling them procedurally infirm on grounds of lack of legal standing and prematurity.
The petitions were filed by former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, and lawyers Berteni Causing and Ernesto Francisco Jr., all of whom sought a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order to block the implementation of the ruling.
The impeachment court had decided last week that the two‑thirds majority required for conviction would be calculated based only on the number of senator‑judges who are legally and factually capable of participating in the proceedings — a departure from the original interpretation that fixed the number at 16 votes out of the full 24‑member Senate.
The revised formula accounts for senators who are detained, absent with outstanding warrants, or on extended medical leave. Rodriguez argued the change effectively amended the Constitution, while Causing and Francisco maintained that all sitting senators should be counted regardless of their ability to attend, and even sought to compel the participation of Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Rodante Marcoleta, and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Estrada and Marcoleta are currently detained on separate non‑bailable plunder charges, while dela Rosa has not appeared in public since May 14, when he left the Senate premises as authorities attempted to serve an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
In dismissing the petitions, the high court declined to intervene in the impeachment process, which the Constitution vests within the Senate’s own authority. The ruling paves the way for the impeachment court to proceed under the revised threshold as the trial moves toward its conclusion.
metrosundaily
