MANILA — The preventive suspension of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada will not lower the number of votes required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio in her impeachment trial, with Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian emphasizing that the Constitution still requires the concurrence of 16 senators regardless of vacancies, absences, or leadership changes.
Gatchalian issued the clarification amid growing questions over the impact of Estrada’s 90-day suspension on the impeachment proceedings, stressing that the constitutional threshold remains fixed because it is based on the Senate’s full membership of 24.
“Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution states unequivocally that no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate,” Gatchalian said.
“With the Senate’s membership fixed at 24, the conviction threshold is 16 votes, and it will remain 16 votes regardless of how many senators attend the trial, which bloc controls the chamber, or who presides over the impeachment court,” he added.
The clarification came after the Sandiganbayan ordered Estrada’s preventive suspension in connection with a graft case linked to the controversial flood control corruption scandal.
According to Gatchalian, the suspension effectively bars Estrada from carrying out any function of a senator, including serving as a senator-judge in the impeachment trial of Duterte-Carpio.
“From what I understand, pag-suspended ka as senator, kasama na ro’n yung being a senator judge. So the suspension…carries with it all the responsibilities as a senator, including becoming a senator-judge,” Gatchalian told reporters.
Estrada was ordered suspended for 90 days while facing graft charges. The senator has questioned the suspension, arguing that he has not been given a full opportunity to contest the regularity of the preliminary investigation conducted in the case.
Despite the legal questions raised by Estrada’s temporary removal from Senate duties, Gatchalian said the chamber would rely on established legal precedent and institutional practice in determining how to proceed.
“In this case, I haven’t really sat down with our legal team on how to go about it, but ang masasabi ko lang kung ano yung legal practice in the past, yun ang susundan natin,” he said.
Gatchalian declined to speculate on how the House prosecution panel would address issues arising from Estrada’s suspension but reiterated that the Constitution leaves no room for changing the vote requirement.
The Senate leader maintained that regardless of political developments or the temporary absence of a senator-judge, securing a conviction against the Vice President will still require at least 16 votes from the 24-member Senate./PN
