Manila, Philippines — Two petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the Senate impeachment court’s decision to lower the voting threshold needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte, with petitioners urging the High Court to intervene immediately rather than wait for the trial to conclude. The dispute began when senator-judges voted 13-1 on September 23 to overturn Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero’s earlier July 6 ruling, which had fixed the conviction threshold at 16 votes, or two-thirds of the Senate’s full 24 members. Under the new rule, only senators who remain “legally and factually capable of participating” in the trial will count toward the two-thirds requirement, effectively lowering the number of votes needed to convict given that several senators have been largely absent from proceedings. Former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, a Duterte ally, argues the change unconstitutionally rewrites the Senate’s composition requirement and has asked the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order and reinstate the original 16-vote threshold. Escudero has said the ruling applies only to this trial and won’t bind future impeachment proceedings, calling it a response to “extraordinary” and “unprecedented” circumstances. The defense team has said pursuing its own Supreme Court challenge remains a real possibility as the trial continues. Read More
