Chiz Escudero stands by his ruling: 16 votes needed to convict Sara Duterte

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Tuesday stood by his earlier ruling that at least 16 affirmative votes from senator-judges are needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment trial.

The issue was raised after Senator-judge Panfilo Lacson sought clarification on whether Escudero's statement on Monday regarding the voting threshold was merely his legal opinion or an official ruling of the impeachment court.

"My point of inquiry, Mr. Presiding Officer, is this: Is this portion of your opening statement a matter of legal opinion on your part as presiding officer, or does it constitute a ruling by the impeachment court?" Lacson asked.

"If the response is that it is the latter, does this mean that this court, through the presiding officer, has raised the level of discourse to a justiciable issue or dispute that the Supreme Court may have the authority to settle and resolve, should either one or both panels decide to challenge the ruling on the ground of grave abuse of discretion?" he added.

On Monday, Escudero said that under the Constitution, no person shall be convicted in an impeachment trial without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.

With the Senate composed of 24 members, Escudero said a literal interpretation of the constitutional provision means conviction requires at least 16 affirmative votes from senator-judges.

On Tuesday, Escudero confirmed that his statement constituted a formal ruling of the impeachment court, which is subject to any legal remedies available to the parties.

"The response of the presiding officer is in the affirmative," Escudero said.

He also said he believes the issue may now be considered a justiciable controversy.

"To clarify, yes, I believe it may already be considered a justiciable controversy, although it is not for us to dictate that, but for the courts. Given that it is a ruling of the chair, not objected to nor appealed by any member of this court, it therefore stands," Escudero said.

Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano, meanwhile, said he had no objection to the voting threshold.

"All I wanted to clarify today, Mr. President, is that we will continue to thresh out any constitutional issues, if there are any," Cayetano said.

"But as of today, it is very clear that, as a court, we have decided that two-thirds of 24—there are 24 members of the Senate today—and 16 is the number of senators needed to convict on any of the Articles," he added.— MCG, GMA News