Highlights: Day 26 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Sept. 16, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – On the 26th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, the Senate impeachment court heard four retired Supreme Court justices serving as amici curiae on the disputed voting threshold needed to convict the vice president.  

Three of the four, former Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno, and Hilario Davide Jr., agreed that the minimum number of votes for conviction is not automatically fixed at 16.

The dissenting view came from retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, who argued that “all means all” and that two-thirds of the full 24-member Senate is required for conviction. 

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READ: Highlights: Day 25 of Sara Duterte impeachment trial | Sept. 15, 2026

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Davide, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, submitted his position through a memorandum, saying the conviction threshold should be based on senators qualified to vote, “not the 24 in the present Senate.” 

Puno echoed a flexible reading, warning that giving Article XI, Section 3-6 a “standalone literal reading” would make the 16-vote threshold fixed and immutable.  He also cautioned that wrongfully excluding a senator-judge from participating could expose the entire proceeding and any eventual verdict to Supreme Court review and possible nullification.

Panganiban, for his part, questioned whether it would be fair to allow senators who are traveling abroad or hiding “in the dark corners of the world” to participate in the final vote when others have spent time hearing arguments and examining evidence. 

He urged senators who have failed to actively participate to consider inhibiting themselves from the proceedings, a view he expressed in response to a question from Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros. Panganiban also stressed that it is not up to the Supreme Court but to the Senate itself, as “the sole judge,” to decide on the voting threshold. 

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Prosecution lead counsel Rep. Gerville Luistro said the positions of the majority of the amici curiae are favorable to the prosecution, as they raise the possibility that the minimum votes needed to convict could be reduced. 

On the other side, Vice President Duterte’s newly appointed spokesperson Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. warned that lowering the 16-vote threshold could invite the sitting government to target senators expected to vote against its preferred outcome. 

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Palace Press Officer Claire Castro maintained that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is hands-off on the threshold issue and would leave the matter to the impeachment court.

At the close of Wednesday’s session, Presiding Officer Francis Escudero issued subpoenas to Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, brother of the vice president, and to Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer Gerardo del Rosario, among others, as the prosecution seeks more witnesses for Article II of the impeachment complaint. 

The prosecution said it wants to determine whether Davao City entered into contracts with Gencorp Industries Inc., a company listed in the vice president’s SALNs as one where she holds stock shares, amid reports that the firm secured around P14 million in transactions from the city government.

Escudero also announced that show-cause orders were issued to certain members of the House prosecution panel for possible violation of the sub judice rule./dp

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1. Tolosa: Baste Duterte can testify if Davao dealt with Sara-linked firm
2. Luistro says amici curiaes’s arguments beneficial to prosecution
3. Panelo warns lowering impeachment threshold could invite gov’t pressure
4. Panganiban to absentee senators: Inhibit from Duterte impeachment trial
5. Impeach court orders some prosecs to explain violation of sub judice
6. Marcos hands off on Duterte impeachment vote threshold – Palace
7. Baste Duterte, other witnesses subpoenaed for Sara impeachment trial
8. Puno: Flawed exclusion of senator-judges could void entire trial
9. 3 of 4 ex-SC justices agree conviction threshold not automatically fixed at 16
10. Panganiban: Not up to SC to decide on impeachment voting threshold
11. Here’s what amici curiae say about the impeachment voting threshold
12. Azcuna warns vs lowering impeach court’s conviction base: ‘All means all’
13. Puno: Constitution’s ⅔ vote is flexible depending on certain factors
14. Panganiban: Is it fair to let those who hide, enjoy abroad, join trial?
15. Davide: Conviction rate must be based on senators qualified to vote

Editor’s note: This update was generated with the aid of artificial intelligence based on Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cebu Daily News articles and reviewed by a human editor.