Lawyer warns vs pretrial talks on votes needed to convict VP Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — Premature discussions on the voting threshold required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment trial during the pretrial stage could unnecessarily delay the proceedings, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal warned in a statement on Tuesday.

Macalintal made the pronouncement as alleged proposals of lowering the minimum number of votes needed to convict Duterte were being floated in both chambers of Congress due to several senators’ absence.

According to Macalintal, it’s “too early” for both parties in the trial to resolve this issue.

“Debating during the pretrial stage — whether the two-thirds vote should be based on all 24 Senate members or if it should exclude those who are detained or missing — is putting the cart before the horse,” Macalintal said.

“This issue will only become real if and when actual voting takes place. Wrangling over it now will only delay the trial,” he added.

As Macalintal pointed out, the pretrial conference is only meant for agreeing on facts related to the case and marking evidence, not for answering hypothetical questions.

The lawyer also pointed out that the conviction threshold is already “clearly set” by Article XI, Section 3(6) of the Constitution, which states that a two-thirds vote of all Senate members is required for conviction.

“Since neither side can rewrite this constitutional rule, any attempt to change it will eventually require the intervention of the Supreme Court,” Macalintal said.

SC as the ‘final arbiter’

Meanwhile, Macalintal also noted that the SC can now potentially address the issue through the petition filed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano against the June 3 proceedings that cleared much of the Senate leadership with just 12 votes.

“Even if that petition is eventually dismissed for being moot and academic due to the election of Senator Gatchalian, the Supreme Court could choose to rule on the said voting threshold issues raised within it,” Macalintal said.

“Doing so would give the Impeachment Court a clear, undisputed guide on how to handle the numbers, ensuring a smooth and orderly trial,” he added.

While there are alleged proposals to reduce the number of votes needed for conviction, several senators have previously affirmed that 16 votes would still be needed to convict Duterte during the trial. 

READ: Gatchalian: 16 votes still needed to convict Sara Duterte

Earlier, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said that the prosecution team would only discuss issues involving the threshold after the pretrial conference. /atm

READ: Luistro: Conviction threshold to be tackled after pretrial, may ask SC