16 NO LONGER IMPEACHMENT VOTE THRESHOLD

THE Senate impeachment court on Wednesday overturned its earlier ruling requiring 16 votes to convict Vice President Sara Duterte.

Instead, the impeachment court adopted a formula that will count only senators who are legally and factually capable of participating  and will be present when judgment is rendered.

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, ruled that the interpretation of the phrase “all members of the Senate” refers only to members who, at the time of the vote, remain legally and factually capable of participating in the impeachment proceedings.

During the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, September 23, 2026,  13 senator-judges —  Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Senators Vicente  Sotto III, Rissa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Panfilo Lacson, Lito Lapid, Raffy Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Joel Villanueva and  Mark Villar voted in favor of the interpretation.

Impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero voted to retain the impeachment court’s previous ruling that 16 votes are required to convict.  

Meamwhile, senator-judges Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Christopher Lawrence Go, Imee Marcos, Robinhood Padilla, and Camille Villar did not participate in the voting.

Before the vote, Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano raised a point of order urging the impeachment court to leave the interpretation to the Supreme Court rather than interpreting the required voting threshold midway through the proceedings.

Senator-judges then voted 13-6, with one abstention, rejecting Cayetano’s point of order and allowing the vote on the impeachment threshold to proceed.

The 1987 Constitution, under Article XI, Section 3(6), provides that no person shall be convicted in an impeachment trial without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

This provision triggered a debate over whether the required votes should be fixed at 16, representing two-thirds of the 24-member Senate, or whether the threshold could vary depending on the number of senators participating in the proceedings.

Last September 8, Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo called for the impeachment court to revisit its ruling given the absence and detention of some senators.

Tulfo cited the circumstances of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who is at large; Senators Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and  Rodante Marcoleta, who are  under police custody; and Sen. Loren Legarda, who is on medical leave.

This prompted the impeachment court to seek the opinion of four retired Supreme Court justices who served as amici curiae.

The four amici curiae chosen by the impeachment court were retired Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno, and Hilario Davide Jr., as well as retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna.