The House prosecution said it would not engage in “political arithmetic” over how many votes are needed to convict Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, maintaining that its priority is to build a strong case backed by evidence.
The dispute centers on whether conviction requires 16 votes—two-thirds of the Senate’s full 24-member composition—or two-thirds of only the senators qualified to participate in the impeachment trial.
Former Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, spokesperson and adviser to the prosecution, said the panel would leave the threshold debate to legal experts and focus on proving the allegations in the Articles of Impeachment.
“Well, maraming schools of thought, maraming opinion na lumalabas tungkol dito sa threshold na ito, and the prosecution is not involved in the political arithmetic, so to speak,” Barbers said at a press briefing.
“So again, we’re not involved in the calculations, whatever number there is. We’re not involved in political arithmetic. What we intend to do is just ilatag itong ebidensya, pagtibayin, palakasin ang ebidensya tungkol doon sa alegasyon na nakasaad doon sa Articles of Impeachment,” he added.
Lawyer Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr., spokesperson and counsel for the House prosecutors, said the panel has consistently avoided counting potential votes.
“Well at this time, our position on this is consistent from the very start, we don’t engage in vote counting. Today ang priority namin dito is to establish an airtight case. Siguraduhin natin ang kaso natin, this will be backed by solid evidence,” Tolosa said.
Tolosa said the prosecution respects the view that the Supreme Court may eventually settle the threshold question but has not taken any official action on the issue.
House trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the continuing debate reflected the public importance of the proceedings.
“I think ’yung issue ng threshold is an indication how important this impeachment trial to the public is,” Adiong said.
He said the competing interpretations stemmed from questions over the Senate’s current composition, but stressed that the public ultimately wants the trial resolved without uncertainty over its legality.