29/10/2026
Supreme Court orders Senate, House to comment on Petition Challenging Impeachment Voting Threshold
The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the Senate Impeachment Court and the House of Representatives to comment within a period of five days on a petition challenging the ruling that lowered the number of votes required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte today, October 29.
The challenge stems from the September 23 ruling of the impeachment court that only senators who participated in the trial would be counted in determining the denominator of the two-thirds vote required for conviction.
The Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition was filed by Senators Robin Padilla and B**g Go, and the officers of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), praying for the Court to stop the Senate Impeachment Court from enforcing its ruling, arguing that its implementation constitutes a “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction” and asserting the two-thirds votes must apply to all 24 senators regardless of absences.
The petitioners maintain that the filing is ripe for judicial review and distinct from the earlier dismissed petitions because, as sitting senators, they are directly affected by being forced to participate under a rule they consider unconstitutional.
Originally, three other petitions challenged the ruling but the SC dismissed the petitions on the grounds of prematurity of the issue, given that no final verdict had been laid down.
Words by Ridwan Anam
Graphics by Carli Recio III | thebarrister
