Senate impeachment court to vote on threshold to convict

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The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday rejected the request of Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano to defer the determination of the threshold needed to convict in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

This developed after 13 senator-judges voted against Cayetano’s move for the deferment of the scheduled vote on the threshold today, September 23.

Only six senator-judges voted in favor of Cayetano, while one abstained.

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero earlier said in July 6 that the threshold needed to convict is 16, which is the two-thirds of the 24 members of the Senate.

The Constitution, however, does not state a number but reads “no [impeachable] person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.”

It was Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo who sought reconsideration of the July 6 ruling, considering that four of the 24 Senators have not been present in the impeachment trial proceedings.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are detained on plunder and other related charges due to their alleged involvement in flood control and undeclared campaign donations, respectively.

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found amid a standing warrant of arrest issued against him by the International Criminal Court due to his alleged involvement in the drug war deaths.

Senator Loren Legarda, for her part, is on an extended medical leave abroad due to a lung ailment. —AOL, GMA News