Malacañang said it will respect whatever decision the Supreme Court makes on petitions challenging the new voting rule adopted by the Senate impeachment court in the case involving Vice President Sara Duterte.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said decisions of the Supreme Court form part of jurisprudence and must be followed.
Castro also clarified that the executive branch is not a party to the petitions filed before the Supreme Court.
The issue stemmed from the Senate impeachment court’s decision on Sept. 23 to change the voting requirement for conviction.
Under the previous rule, 16 votes were required for conviction. The Senate impeachment court later decided that the two-thirds requirement would instead be based on the number of senators who are legally and actually able to participate in the voting at the time of judgment.
The revised rule has been questioned before the Supreme Court by former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez.
Rodriguez asked the high court to invalidate the new voting rule and argued that the 16-vote threshold should remain based on the Senate’s full membership of 24 senators.
The petitions put the Senate impeachment court’s revised voting requirement under judicial scrutiny as the legal challenge continues.
The impeachment trial is ongoing while the Supreme Court awaits action on the petitions.
Malacañang’s position, as stated by Castro, is that the executive branch will follow whatever ruling the Supreme Court issues on the matter.
The dispute over the voting requirement remains separate from the ongoing proceedings of the Senate impeachment court, with the high court expected to act on the petitions questioning the rule.
