The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is in danger of not pushing through if more senators are jailed or suspended over the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson warned over the weekend.
Lacson said that should at least nine senators be removed from the chamber before a verdict is reached, the trial set to begin on July 6 would effectively be rendered pointless. The 1987 Constitution requires the concurrence of two-thirds of all members of the Senate — 16 of 24 senators — to convict an impeached official, a threshold he insists cannot be lowered no matter how many senators are absent.
“It’s going to be a crisis. Walang impeachment na magaganap kasi forgone na ‘yung decision na hindi mako-convict,” Lacson told GMA News, warning that conviction would already be impossible if only 15 senator-judges were left to vote.
He pressed the point in remarks reported by Philstar: “What if nine senators are detained and 15 are left in the impeachment court? How will there be a clear decision to convict or acquit?” Lacson rejected the idea that a depleted chamber should mean automatic acquittal, insisting the base number for conviction stays at 24.
The threat is not abstract. The Office of the Ombudsman is investigating nine to 10 senators over alleged involvement in the flood control anomalies, according to figures cited by Lacson. GMA News reported that eight senators currently face complaints, among them Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who was detained at the Quezon City Jail after the Sandiganbayan ordered his arrest on a non-bailable plunder charge. Estrada has denied any involvement in the alleged misuse of flood control funds. Lacson also named Senators Francis Escudero and Joel Villanueva as among those allegedly facing possible arrest — any additional detentions or suspensions narrowing the pool of senator-judges further.
To keep the trial from unraveling, Lacson proposed treating the Senate and the impeachment court as separate entities, arguing that preventive suspension applies only to a senator’s legislative functions and not to their duties as a senator-judge. For those already detained, he floated a motion for leave of court that would allow them to attend under escort by personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Speaking to the Inquirer, Lacson conceded the setup would be awkward — senators serving as judges by day and returning to detention by night.
The warning compounds an unresolved leadership dispute between Acting Senate President Win Gatchalian and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. Gatchalian has maintained that the quorum row will not affect the proceedings and that the 16-vote threshold stands. Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, a congressman-prosecutor, pushed back on any delay, saying postponing the trial is “out of the question.”
The Senate impeachment court has yet to elect a presiding officer. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for June 18, with both the prosecution and defense panels directed to attend.
