MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday dismissed three separate petitions challenging the Senate Impeachment Court’s interpretation of the constitutional requirement for a two-thirds vote to convict in an impeachment case.
The petitions were filed by Victor D. Rodriguez, Berteni Cataluña Causing and lawyer Ernesto B. Francisco Jr., who separately questioned the Senate tribunal’s Sept. 23, 2026 ruling on how the required two-thirds vote should be counted.
The Senate Impeachment Court had ruled that the phrase “all the Members of the Senate” under Article XI, Section 3(6) of the Constitution refers only to senators who are legally and actually able to participate in the impeachment proceedings at the time of the vote.
Rodriguez argued that the Senate tribunal effectively amended the Constitution by adding a qualification not found in the constitutional text. He asked the high court to nullify the ruling and temporarily restrain its implementation.
Causing, meanwhile, argued that senators who remained in office should still be counted even if they were in hiding, detained or medically unable to attend the proceedings. He also sought orders stopping any final vote on Vice President Sara Duterte’s conviction while his case was pending.
Francisco similarly maintained that because the Constitution provides for a 24-member Senate, conviction requires the concurrence of at least 16 senator-judges. He argued that senators who are detained, on medical leave or temporarily absent remain members of the Senate and should therefore be included in the count.
The Court, however, dismissed all three petitions on procedural grounds, including lack of standing and prematurity.
The Court’s action came as the Senate Impeachment Court weighed the constitutional requirement for conviction in the impeachment proceedings against Duterte.
In a separate case, the high tribunal ordered the respondents to comment within a non-extendible five calendar days on a petition challenging the constitutionality of Republic Act 12326, the law postponing the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections to November 2028.
The petition was filed by veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal against the Office of the President, Senate, House of Representatives and Commission on Elections.
Meanwhile, Senate Impeachment Court spokesman Reginad Tongol said the court acknowledged the Supreme Court En Banc’s ruling.
The dismissal leaves the Sept. 23 ruling undisturbed, he said, allowing the impeachment court to proceed with the case.
"By junking these challenges, the Highest Court has drawn a definitive firewall around the independence of the Senate as an Impeachment Court, confirming that its proceedings cannot be held hostage by premature judicial meddling or collateral litigation," Tongol said.
"The Impeachment Court’s September 23 ruling stands undisturbed and shall continue to perform its constitutional mandate to solely try and decide the impeachment case before it without unnecessary stalling or external distractions," he added.
