Impeachment court asked to revisit voting threshold
MANILA, Philippines – Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday, September 8 formally asked the Senate impeachment court to decide on the voting threshold for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, citing the continued absence of some senators.
On Day 23 of the impeachment trial, Tulfo said it should now be clarified how many votes are required for Duterte’s acquittal or conviction as the trial moves closer to its end.
“If we insist that the voting basis fixed at 24, regardless of the evidence presented, regardless of the vote of the senators who are able to listen to the testimonies, the absence of those senators, whether we like it or not, will result in an acquittal by default,” Tulfo said.
Four senator-judges were absent on day 23 of the trial: Loren Legarda, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada.
Legarda remains under extended medical leave abroad due to lung illness while Dela Rosa is in hiding in view of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Marcoleta and Estrada are detained for separate plunder charges.
The Senate impeachment court went on a 30-minute recess to discuss the matter. During the break, Escudero was seen talking with senator-judges as well as counsels from the defense and prosecution.
Senator-judges Pia Cayetano and Robin Padilla, for their part, opposed the lowering of the threshold and moved to retain Escudero’s July 16 ruling.
Escudero ruled that the impeachment court will seek the opinion of amici curiae or the ”friends of the court” in resolving the issue. The hearing on this is slated on September 16, and the oral arguments plus the impeachment court’s decision on September 23.
Escudero refused to name who will be tapped to present various opinions but said they will include retired Supreme Court (SC) justices.
“We already talked about some retired SC justices but I’m not yet at liberty to state their names because we have not yet gotten in touch with them,” Escudero added.
Detained senators
Also on Tuesday, senator-judges weighed in on the possibility of allowing detained senators to participate in the trial.
Cayetano urged the Senate to consider allowing Marcoleta and Estrada to attend the impeachment trial, and vote without changing the rules.
Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo said, “Do we have the power to invite our two colleagues who are in custody, right now?… How about payagan sila mag-monitor if they want to vote?… Kung ‘di sila makapag-monitor sa proceedings, then they cannot vote intelligently?”
(Do we have the power to invite our two colleagues who are in custody, right now? How about we allow them to monitor if they want to vote? Because how can… then they cannot vote intelligently if they were unable to monitor.)
Escudero clarified it is not the impeachment court but the Senate, as a legislative body, which will decide on the issue. – Rappler.com
