Conviction threshold issue could be raised before Supreme Court — Duterte lawyer

Michael Poa takes his oath as a hostile witness during the 21st day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate in Pasay City on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Poa, who previously served as a Department of Education official and spokesperson for Duterte’s defense team, is set to testify on the disbursement of confidential funds during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN NewsMANILA — The lawyers of Vice President Sara Duterte are not discounting the possibility of bringing the issue of the conviction threshold before the Supreme Court.

Defense lawyer Michael Poa made the statement Wednesday in response to a question from Sen. Bam Aquino during oral arguments before the Senate impeachment court on the number of votes required for conviction.

Aquino specifically asked Poa and prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno whether the Senate impeachment court’s decision on the conviction threshold, which is expected to come out later in the day, could be subject to judicial review if it did not favor their respective positions.

“Sa amin, just to be very straightforward and candid, definitely there’s a possibility that we will be raising this to the Supreme Court,” Poa responded.

“Precisely because, Your Honors, when… we entered for her in these proceedings, [the] expectation was ‘yong conviction threshold is 16 votes. So sa atin, kung papalitan natin ‘yon in the middle, we feel that that really is a justiciable issue,” Poa said.

Meanwhile, Dionko said the prosecution panel would yield to the decision of the court.

“We respectfully submit that it is within the exclusive power and authority of this court to make that decision. If you look at even the jurisprudence that we have, I think it would also point in that direction,” he said.

Offering his view on the matter, Aquino said the issue of the conviction threshold involved the “interpretation” of a constitutional provision.

“Which is why I would say that after deciding today, it can be raised to the Supreme Court and that whatever their decision is should be something that we should all take cognizance of,” Aquino said.

Presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero earlier ruled that at least 16 votes are required to convict Duterte, equivalent to two-thirds of the 24-member Senate.

The ruling was based on Section 3(6), Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, which governs impeachment proceedings and states: “No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.”

But Sen. Erwin Tulfo later questioned whether “all the Members of the Senate” should include senators who have largely been absent from the proceedings over various reasons.

Poa earlier argued that changing the voting threshold midway through the trial would raise questions about whether Duterte was being afforded due process.

For his part, Diokno highlighted the importance of senator-judges’ active participation in an impeachment trial, questioning how a senator can render a judgement if they failed to personally hear witnesses and examine the pieces of evidence themselves.