The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte said the vote to convict in her impeachment trial remains at 16 based on the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds vote of all members, since the absence or detention of a senator does not create a vacancy.
Defense counsel Michael Poa said the Supreme Court has stated time and again that when the law is clear, there is no room for interpretation.
“We should not complicate what the Constitution has made simple,” Poa said.
He said that since the impeachment trial started, there has been no change in the circumstances of the Senate.
He also raised the question of whether the Impeachment Court needs to reconsider the 16-vote requirement to convict in the first place.
He noted that when Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero ruled on the voting threshold, nobody objected.
The time to seek reconsideration should have lapsed, he said.
He said nothing in the rules suggests that the ruling of the Presiding Officer may be challenged indefinitely, or modified arbitrarily because the parties must be able to rely on the rulings of the presiding officer.
“Otherwise, your honors, that will run contrary to the basic principle of what is an orderly conduct of a fair trial,” he said.
It raises the question of whether Duterte is being afforded due process, he added.
Poa also stressed that the Constitution is clear that the vote to convict is two-thirds of all members and it does not state all members participating or present.
He said there would only be a vacancy if there is a death, disqualification, or expulsion in the Senate, and this is only when the denominator may change.
“Absence, your honors, does not create a vacancy. Non-participation does not create a vacancy. Being detained because of criminal charges, does not create a vacancy. And therefore, your honors, the current formulation is 24 senators, two-thirds of which is 16,” he said.
He also said changing the denominator in the impeachment trial would have consequences for the vote to extend or revoke martial law or amend the Constitution.
“Now, are we going to also adjust the thresholds in those provisions? Because if we were to do that, hindi na po threshold and tawag doon, moving target na po iyon para sa mga taong gusto mag benefit sa circumstances,” he said.
Poa also said the two-thirds super-majority is a constitutional safeguard for the respondent as well as for the senator-judges.
He said changing the denominator opens them to being coerced, intimidated, or threatened by those who wish to manipulate the result of the impeachment process.
But if the denominator does not change, then there would be nothing to gain by filing charges against them or detaining them.
“Circumstances change. Political alliances shift. Majorities come and go. But at the end of the day, the Constitution must remain,” he said.