Senate Divided on Conviction Threshold as Duterte Impeachment Trial Continues

MANILA – The Senate impeachment court faced competing interpretations of constitutional requirements during Week 11 proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, with legal experts questioning whether conviction demands a fixed 16-vote threshold.

Three retired chief justices testified before the court that the two-thirds majority needed to convict need not correspond to precisely 16 senators, injecting new complexity into the ongoing trial. The testimony highlighted fundamental disagreements among legal authorities on how the Constitution's conviction standard should be applied in impeachment cases.

Meanwhile, prosecutors pressed forward with their Article II case centered on allegations of unexplained wealth against the Vice President. The prosecutors presented evidence and arguments aimed at establishing discrepancies between Duterte's reported assets and income sources during the period covered by the complaint.

The trial continues to draw intense scrutiny as both the prosecution and defense prepare for subsequent rounds of testimony and argument. The question of the voting threshold could prove decisive if the case advances toward a final conviction vote in the Senate.