Senator Mark Villar was the lone member of the Senate minority to vote in favor of lowering the voting threshold for conviction in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Wednesday, September 23.
Villar voted “yes” as the Senate impeachment court adopted a new formula that bases the required two-thirds vote on senators who are legally and factually capable of participating in the proceedings.
Other minority senators, including Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Christopher “Bong” Go, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, and Villar’s sister, Camille Villar, did not participate in the threshold vote.
The impeachment court approved Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo’s motion by a 13-1 vote, with six senator-judges not participating. Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero cast the lone negative vote.
Under the new ruling, senators who are detained or suspended, legally restrained from performing their duties, whose whereabouts are unknown while being sought by authorities, medically incapacitated, beyond the Senate’s coercive processes, or similarly situated may be excluded from the denominator.
The ruling replaces Escudero’s earlier July 6 interpretation that 16 votes, or two-thirds of the 24-member Senate, were required for conviction.
