By El Amigo
MANILA — The Senate Impeachment Court will turn to constitutional experts on Sept. 16 as senator-judges tackle a dispute over the number of votes required to convict or acquit Vice President Sara Duterte.
The court is expected to hear independent legal views from amici curiae, or friends of the court, on whether the two-thirds voting requirement under the Constitution should continue to be based on all 24 senators.
The issue has gained renewed attention following a question raised by Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo concerning senators who have been unable to take part substantially in the impeachment proceedings.
Under the Senate’s earlier interpretation, a two-thirds vote means 16 of the chamber’s 24 members.
The emerging debate centers not on the two-thirds requirement itself, but on whether senators who have not heard significant portions of the trial or reviewed much of the evidence should still be included in determining the numerical threshold.
Robert Ace Barbers, a former House prosecution adviser and spokesperson, said obtaining outside constitutional opinions would help clarify the issue before it potentially reaches the Supreme Court.
“I believe that is necessary so that everything becomes clear,” Barbers said in a television interview, adding that there is no actual controversy yet that would justify Supreme Court intervention.
He said the impeachment court could benefit from perspectives offered by retired Supreme Court justices and constitutional law specialists, including experts familiar with the drafting of the 1987 Constitution.
The prosecution has argued that the controversy involves the interpretation of the phrase “two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate,” particularly in circumstances where some senator-judges have had limited participation in the trial.
Barbers said the prosecution, however, would remain focused on its presentation of evidence rather than the numerical dispute.
“Whether it’s high — whether the number is 16 or lower than 16 — that is the least of our concern as we speak,” he said.
The House prosecution is preparing to move to the second article of impeachment against Duterte, which alleges that she accumulated unexplained wealth.
The Sept. 16 proceedings are expected to give the senator-judges additional constitutional and legal guidance before the parties formally argue their positions on the voting requirement.
The court’s eventual ruling on the issue could determine whether the 16-vote threshold remains applicable or whether another method of computation will be used when the senator-judges finally vote on Duterte’s impeachment.
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