Philippine Senate Court Votes 13-1 to Lower the Bar to Convict VP Sara Duterte, Dropping a Fixed 16-Vote Threshold

The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, voted 13-1 on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to overturn presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero’s July ruling that convicting Vice President Sara Duterte required exactly 16 of the Senate’s 24 members, according to Philstar. Under the new ruling, only senators able to participate count toward the two-thirds threshold, which could lower the number of votes needed to convict her.

Four senators cannot currently attend the trial, Philstar reported: Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa is in hiding from an International Criminal Court arrest warrant; Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are detained on nonbailable plunder charges; and Sen. Loren Legarda is abroad on extended medical leave. If those four are excluded from the count, the Senate pool drops to 20, meaning roughly 14 votes could convict instead of 16. The court said it will determine which senators meet the exclusion criteria case by case, and no new fixed number has been set.

Six minority senators, including Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, refused to re-enter the chamber after a lunch break and did not vote, Philstar reported; only Sen. Mark Villar was present among them. Escudero cast the lone dissenting vote against his own ruling being overturned. "The chair takes exception to this decision. The chair nonetheless accepts it as a decision of this court," he said, adding that the presiding officer is "merely the custodian of the process, not the proprietor of its outcome."

Escudero said the new count applies "pro hac vice, or for this occasion only," and sets no binding precedent for future impeachment courts, according to Philstar’s Sept. 24 follow-up report. House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno said it "applies only here and cannot be used for future possible impeachment proceedings." Unlike Supreme Court rulings, impeachment court decisions do not carry the same precedential weight, since the Senate holds sole impeachment power under the constitution rather than the judiciary.

Duterte’s lead counsel, Sheila Sison, said the defense would keep participating in the trial "ad cautelam," meaning with caution, while reserving the right to challenge the new threshold, potentially before the Supreme Court, Philstar reported.

In the coverage IF Daily reviewed, no date had been set for a conviction vote, and the Senate had not finished determining which senators meet the exclusion categories. IF Daily will update this story as the trial proceeds.