Abante: Is it fair to let senators who missed VP trial vote?

MANILA, Philippines — Will it be fair to let senators who did not follow Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial vote as the Senate court makes its ruling on the case?

Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., chair of the House Committee on Human Rights, raised that question during an online media conference on Friday as the Senate impeachment court had started reviewing whether conviction must always require 16 votes or whether the number could change when some senators could not participate.

For Abante, a sponsor of the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte, the question is not merely whether a senator remains a member of the chamber, but whether that senator is in a position to fairly assess evidence he or she did not personally follow.

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READ: Here’s what amici curiae say about the impeachment voting threshold

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He said the senator-judges must decide Duterte’s case based on the evidence actually presented in court, rather than enter at the end of the proceedings without having followed the presentation of both the prosecution and the defense.

The Constitution requires “two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate” to convict in an impeachment trial. Presiding Senator-Judge Francis “Chiz” Escudero initially ruled that the requirement translates to 16 votes out of the Senate’s full 24-member composition.

But as Abante pointed out, the Constitution itself does not expressly state the number 16.

“Nothing was said about 16. What was said was ‘two-thirds of all members’,” he said in Filipino.

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“It’s a gray area, [the phrase] ‘all the members.’ Who are they? What are they?” Abante added.

The issue took on greater significance last Wednesday after three amici curiae — retired Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno, and Hilario Davide Jr. — presented views in court allowing a denominator other than the full 24-member Senate under certain circumstances.

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READ: 3 of 4 ex-SC justices agree conviction threshold not fixed at 16

Only retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna maintained that all sitting senators should be counted.

The prosecution and defense will present oral arguments on Sept. 23 before the impeachment court decides whether to retain or modify Escudero’s 16-vote ruling.

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Abante said the larger consideration should be fairness to both sides and a verdict based on evidence rather than simply arithmetic. /atm