MANILA, Philippines — The Senate impeachment court can proceed with a vote on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte even if its conviction threshold is challenged before the Supreme Court, a member of the House prosecution team said Sunday.
Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonzo Adiong, the panel’s spokesman, issued the statement as senators debated whether the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds vote should stay at 16 under the circumstances of Duterte’s impeachment trial.
“My understanding would be, unless and until the Supreme Court issues a temporary restraining order, then the Senate could proceed with the voting,” Adiong said on Sunday.
“If it's about constitutionality, the only institution that can actually define and clarify some confusion as to how do we interpret the constitution is the Supreme Court,” he added.
Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution states that no person may be convicted in an impeachment trial without the concurrence of two-thirds of all Senate members.
The provision has traditionally been understood to require 16 votes in a 24-member Senate.
The issue has resurfaced because several senator-judges have been unable to participate in the proceedings for varying reasons.
Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri earlier said discussions are underway on whether the voting requirement should take into account the Senate’s actual circumstances when judgment is rendered.
Adiong said any challenge over the constitutional interpretation of the threshold would ultimately be for the high tribunal to resolve. He acknowledged that the limits between the Senate’s exclusive power to try impeachment cases and the high court’s authority to settle constitutional questions have yet to be tested under such circumstances.
A definitive Supreme Court ruling could eventually establish guidance extending well beyond Duterte’s case and settle how the constitutional voting provision should operate when similar circumstances arise, he said.
“This is something that I think the Supreme Court can really clarify, to give us a concrete and tangible understanding on how future impeachment proceedings with similar circumstance that we are now experiencing would have to be given answer and addressed quite certainly when it comes to numbers, or getting the right numbers in order to render a decision,” Adiong said.
