VP Sara reserves right to challenge Senate court’s lower impeachment conviction threshold

September 23, 2026

By ABOGADO.COM.PH Staff

Lead defense counsel Sheila Sison said Vice President Sara Duterte is reserving her right to seek legal remedies after the Senate Impeachment Court revised the basis for determining the two-thirds vote to convict in her impeachment trial, excluding absent and detained senators from the count.

After the court overturned the earlier ruling that set the vote to convict at 16, Sison said Duterte’s participation in the trial would now be ad cautelam or with caution.

“She reserves every right to exhaust all legal remedies available sa ilalim ng ating batas at Constitution na may pagtatangi sa esensya ng isang tunay na malayang demokratikong institusyon. At karapatan ng bawat mamamayan na madinig sa isang hukumang walang kinikilingan o kinatatakutan at matapang na maninindigan sa isang makatarungang paglilitis at sa bandang huli, pagpapasya,” Sison said.

She said Duterte does not shrink from her responsibility and does not fear the outcome of the impeachment trial.

“She asks for nothing spectacular from this court, only the most essential and basic guarantees due to every individual: fairness and impartiality sa isang korteng pinagkalooban ng pinaka-iingatang mga prinsipyo sa ilalim ng ating saligang batas,” she said.

She also reminded the Impeachment Court of the Supreme Court ruling in Duterte v House of Representatives, where it said that while the impeachment process is sui generis, this does not convert it to a purely political process isolated from the requirements of the Constitution.

Earlier, defense counsel Michael Poa argued that the two-thirds vote to convict should be based on all 24 members of the Senate, since the absence of certain members does not create a vacancy that would allow the denominator to be lowered.

Poa also said that when the law is clear, there is no room for interpretation.