Supreme Court Gives Senate Impeachment Court and House Five Days to Comment on Bid to Void Conviction Vote Rule
SUPREME COURT – The Supreme Court has ordered the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, and the House of Representatives to respond to a petition questioning how many votes are needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte, in a development made public on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
In an en banc resolution dated October 14, the High Court gave both chambers a non-extendible period of five days from receipt of notice to file their comments. The order covers the main petition as well as its request for a temporary restraining order, a status quo ante order or a writ of preliminary injunction.
The petition for certiorari and prohibition was filed earlier this month by Senators Robin Padilla and Bong Go, together with the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban). They want the High Court to nullify the impeachment court’s ruling on the voting threshold and to stop it from excluding any senator when counting “all the members of the Senate” under the Constitution.
The Senate impeachment court is named in the case through Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. The House is named through Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and the prosecution panel led by Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville “Jinky” Luistro.
At the center of the dispute is the impeachment court’s September 23 ruling, which said only senators who are legally and factually able to take part when judgment is rendered should be counted in computing the two-thirds vote. Under the 1987 Constitution, no official may be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.
The ruling effectively leaves four senators out of the count: Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, who are detained while facing plunder charges; Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who is in hiding amid an International Criminal Court arrest warrant; and Loren Legarda, who is on extended medical leave.
By requiring comment first, the Supreme Court has not yet given due course to the petition, meaning it has not decided whether to take up the case or grant any interim relief. Until it acts, the impeachment court’s September 23 rule stays in force.
The question split even the legal experts the Senate consulted. In September, retired Chief Justices Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno and Hilario Davide Jr. said the threshold should be based on senator-judges who actively take part in the trial. Retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, disagreed, saying the two-thirds rule refers to the full membership of the Senate, which would require 16 votes to convict.
The petition comes as the trial itself is expected to run longer. Related coverage: Gatchalian: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial Likely to Stretch Into December and Palace Insists Marcos Has No Hand in Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial.
Whichever way the High Court eventually rules, the answer could decide whether a conviction needs a smaller majority of active senator-judges or the full 16 votes, a number that may shape the outcome of the case against the Vice President.