DAY 29 RECAP: VP SARA DUTERTE'S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
The Senate impeachment court has voted in favor of lowering the trial's vote threshold in convicting Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, Sept. 23, following the oral arguments presented by the prosecution and defense panels.
House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno delivered the opening argument for the prosecution panel, stating that the number of votes required is not fixed at 16, while maintaining that the conviction vote threshold remains at two-thirds, questioning whether it encompasses all of senator-judges or only those who are actively participating in the proceedings.
Meanwhile, defense counsel Michael Poa argued that 16 votes are fixed, and the Supreme Court's interpretation on laws pertaining to the matter must not be put into further assessment, and that "there's only room for application."
Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano later appealed for the proceedings on the matter to not continue, to which it was lost in a vote of 13 negative, 6 affirmative, and 1 abstention.
Meanwhile, Senator-judge Camille Villar broke down in tears amid the proceedings, as she urged respect towards their fellow absent colleagues, calling it unfair to immediately label them as "plunderers" or "thieves", when no verdict has been called.
The appeal to lower the conviction vote threshold in the impeachment trial against Duterte was won in a vote of 13 affirmative, 1 negative, and 6 abstentions.
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