MANILA, Philippines — Retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. on Wednesday said that the two-thirds vote required for conviction in an impeachment trial should be computed based on the number of senators qualified to vote, not all 24 members of the Senate.
In his legal memorandum submitted to the Senate Impeachment Court as amicus curiae, Davide said that senators who are detained, abroad, suspended or whose whereabouts are unknown should be excluded from the phrase "all the Members of the Senate" in determining the two-thirds vote.
"Clearly then, the basis of computing the two-thirds must be the number of senators who are qualified to vote, not the twenty-four (24) in the present Senate. All those disqualified by reason of causes earlier mentioned should not be included," he said.
The Senate Impeachment Court invited several former justice to weigh in as it tackles whether the 16-vote threshold for conviction should remain despite some senators being unable to participate or vote.
Davide was one of the delegates to the 1971 Constitutional Convention which drafted the 1973 Constitution, and one of the commissioners of the 1986 Constitutional Commission which drafted the 1987 Constitution.
