00:00Senator Judge Irwin Tulfo asks the Senate Impeachment Court to decide on the voting
00:04threshold for the trial, citing the continued absence of some Senators. Tulfo says it should
00:10now be clear how many votes are required for Duterte's acquittal or conviction as the trial
00:14moves closer to its end. Four Senator Judges had been absent for most of the trial, Lauren
00:38Legarda, Ronald Bato de la Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta, and Gingoy Estrada. But Sen. Judges Pia Cayetano
00:44and Robin Padilla oppose the lowering of the threshold and move to retain the 16-vote
00:49conviction threshold. Residing Officer Cheese Escudero rules the impeachment court will seek
00:54the opinion of Amici Kyure or friends of the court in resolving the issue, which may include retired
00:58Supreme Court justices. We already talked about some retired justices of the Supreme Court but
01:06I'm not yet at liberty to state their names because we have not yet gotten in touch with them.
01:10A hearing on this is slated on September 16 while the oral arguments and the impeachment
01:14court's decision is scheduled for September 23. Meantime, constitutional lawyer Lulu Reyes says
01:20elevating the conviction threshold issue to the SC at this point would be dangerous.
01:24Because if indeed the question as to the number of votes is elevated to the Supreme Court,
01:30that might raise the possibility of the Supreme Court deciding against the judgment rendered by the
01:39Senate. The Senate impeachment court also issues a new schedule for Duterte's impeachment trial,
01:44aiming to complete it before the end of the year.
