Ridon tells critics of Senate ruling: Here’s tissue for your tears

MANILA, Philippines — Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon has offered tissue paper to critics who cannot get over the Senate Impeachment Court’s ruling allowing a lower minimum vote to convict Vice President Sara Duterte, so they can wipe their tears away.

In a press briefing on Thursday at the Batasang Pambansa complex, Ridon, a member of the public prosecution team, said that those who think that the impeachment court was manipulated can use his tissue to dry their tears.

“Siguro pang huling remarks na lang ho doon sa mga nagsasabi na this is manipulated and kung ano pa man ho ’yong mga sinasabi nila, may tissue ako dito, punasan niyo ’yong luha niyo,” he said.

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(Maybe as a final remark, those who say that this is manipulated and those making claims, whatever that is, I have a tissue here, you can wipe your tears away.)

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READ: ‘2/3’ rule revisited: Fewer votes needed to convict Sara Duterte

Turning serious, Ridon said that those with grievances about the Senate Impeachment Court’s decision can always go to the Supreme Court to argue their case.

“Pwede naman ho silang magpunta ng Korte Suprema kung kung tingin nila mayroon ho silang kaso. Wala hong nagpipigil sa kanilang magpunta ro’n. Kung handa po ‘yong Pangalawang Pangulo to go there, then she can go there. If Atty. (Paolo) Panelo—as (he is) not part of the defense panel — would want to go there, then he can go there,” Ridon explained.

(They can go to the Supreme Court if they think they have a case. No one is stopping them from going there. If the Vice President is ready to go there, then she can go there. If Atty. (Paolo) Panelo—as (he is) not a not part of the defense panel—would want to go there, then he can go there.)

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“So wala pong nagbabawal sa kahit sino man. If her allies would want to go to the Supreme Court like what they did before, they are free to go there, so wala pong problema, we will wait for that petition and kung ano man ’yong maging pasya ng Korte Suprema, eh ‘di tatalima lang po kami,” he added.

(So no one is being prevented from going to the Supreme Court. If her allies would want to go to the Supreme Court like what they did before, they are free to go there, that is not a problem, we will wait for that petition and whatever the Supreme Court’s decision is, we will abide by it.)

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READ: Panelo warns lowering impeachment threshold could invite gov’t pressure

On Wednesday, after the prosecution and the defense presented their arguments on the minimum number of votes required to convict Duterte over her impeachment raps, 13 senator-judges present voted in favor of allowing a lower minimum number of votes for conviction.

Under the ruling read by Presiding Officer and Senator-judge Francis Escudero, the denominator used to determine a two-thirds vote will depend on how many members of the Senate are available.

Escudero then stated that the following members will be excluded from the voting process:

• Detained and/or suspended, or otherwise legally restrained from exercising the functions of a senator
• Persons sought by authorities whose whereabouts are unknown
• Suffering from a physical or medical incapacity
• Beyond the coercive processes of the Senate
• Others similarly situated

READ: Impeach court ruling on conviction threshold: Who can’t vote?

Escudero also clarified how they will determine the two-thirds vote should less than 24 senator-judges participate in the trial. According to the Presiding Officer, they will have to round up in case the two-thirds number has a decimal figure.

As an example, Escudero said that in case only 20 senator-judges remain, the mathematical two-thirds of 20 is 13.33. But since votes are whole numbers, the Senate will have to round up even if the decimal point is less than 0.5—meaning that instead of merely 13 votes, the requirement for conviction will be 14.

The two-thirds requirement is found in Article XI, Section 3(5) of the 1987 Constitution, which states that an impeached official will only be convicted upon the “concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.”

Two-thirds of the 24 members of the Senate is 16, but the absence of several senator-judges have raised questions from different sides. Some individuals supportive of the Vice President have insisted that all members of the Senate refer to all senators even if they are beyond the coercive powers of the chamber, since their titles as Senators were not removed from them.

However, there are also those who have asked how judges can make a sound decision if they have not observed the proceedings and failed to study documents and witnesses’ testimonies.

This was the same point raised by public prosecutor and Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno during the oral arguments on Wednesday. As of Thursday, four senators have missed a huge chunk of the trial: Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Rodante Marcoleta, and Ronald dela Rosa have not attended a single trial day, while Senator Loren Legarda left the country early August.

Estrada and Marcoleta have been detained on separate plunder raps, while dela Rosa has evaded public eye amid an arrest order from the International Criminal Court. Legarda, meanwhile, has been on medical leave.

READ: Diokno: If senator-judges are absent, will vacant seats decide case?

Not our call

Lead public prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, meanwhile, clarified that they were prepared to see Duterte’s trial push through without the minimum votes for a conviction being discussed.

However, they had to take a stand after the Senate Impeachment Court asked for their opinion, through the oral arguments.

“I wish to remind the public, doon sa naging position ng prosecution as manifested and argued upon by Congressman Chel Diokno kahapon, initially ang submission namin is, it falls within the exclusive prerogative of the Senate to clarify the threshold, most especially the denominator because two-thirds remains two-thirds, right?” Luistro said.

“It was only because we were asked to take the position during the oral argument that we have to argue on the senator-judges being present during the trial, ‘no? But initially, gusto kong bigyan ng punto ‘yon, we were ready, even prior to the oral argument, to just submit the matter for exclusive judgment and prerogative of the Honorable Impeachment Court,” she added.

Prior to this, Luistro also clarified that the court’s ruling did not change the conviction threshold itself, as the requirement is still two-thirds.

READ: Luistro clarifies: Required votes to convict, not threshold, can be lowered

Another clarification that Luistro made is that based on their understanding of the ruling, the availability of senator-judges will be considered at the time of voting.

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As an example, Luistro believes that Legarda can participate and vote if she returns to work before the court delivers its verdict on the impeachment case against Duterte. /cb