Senators petition Supreme Court to restore 16-vote impeachment threshold

Senators Robin Padilla and Bong Go, alongside PDP-Laban, have filed a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with the Supreme Court to challenge the Senate Impeachment Court’s ruling on conviction thresholds. The petitioners seek to restore a 16-vote requirement for the conviction of Vice President Sara Duterte.

The challenge targets a September 23 ruling by the Senate Impeachment Court, which moved away from a fixed 16-vote threshold based on the full 24-member Senate. Instead, the court decided that the two-thirds requirement should be calculated based only on senators deemed “legally and factually capable of participating” in the trial.

The petitioners argue that the Constitution explicitly requires the concurrence of “two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.” They contend that since the Senate is composed of 24 members, the threshold must be 16, regardless of whether individual senators are absent, ill, or otherwise unable to participate. They emphasized that no Senate seats have been vacated and that the Constitution does not specify a threshold based on members who are merely “present” or “voting.”

In addition to overturning the ruling, the petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to issue a Status Quo Ante Order, a Temporary Restraining Order, and a Writ of Preliminary Injunction while the petition is under consideration.