17/09/2026
21 Senators, 24 Seats and the 1987 Philippine Constitution: A Legal Discourse
Dear fellow Argaowanons,
Nowadays, the hot topic of the day is the determination of what is the correct interpretation of the constitutional legal phrase, "2/3 concurrence of all the members" of the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court.
The Senate of the Philippines, sitting as an Impeachment Court, has invited four legal luminaries namely:
1) former SC CJ Hilario G. Davide, Jr.;
2) former SC CJ Artemio V. Panganiban, Jr.;
3) former SC CJ Reynato S. Puno;
4) former SC AJ Adolfo S. Azcuna;
Except for former CJ Davide, Jr. who submitted his Legal Memorandum on the above-mentioned subject matter, the rest personally appeared before the Senate acting as an Impeachment Court on September 16, 2026 as Amici Curiae.
There is no argument that the aforementioned former SC Chief Justices and another former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court are learned in Law, whose deep knowledge and understanding of the Law, as well as experience vis-a-vis legal expertise, is beyond reproach and beyond question.
This however does not preclude the other members of the Bar and the Bench, as Disciples of the Law, including this humble representation, to express and articulate his or her own legal view on the matter.
Thus, with all your kind indulgence, and with all due respect to my fellow brothers/sisters in the Legal Profession, particularly the above-named four (4) amici curiae, allow me to share and express my own legal view on the matter.
Before proceeding any further, please let me state for the record, that any and/all my succeeding legal discourse is purely legalistic and objective, without bias, bearing, or reference, to any preference on religious, political, and/or personal belief.
Let me begin by saying that, in reality there are two (2) intertwined issues in connection with the discussion on the 2/3 threshold, which is actually the seed of the confusion.
These are (1) who among the senators sitting as impeachment court judges can vote; and (2) what is the correct number of Senator-Judges that should be the basis in determining the 2/3 concurrence or 2/3 threshold.
There should be a distinction between the aforementioned two (2) separate issues.
Though it can be legally argued that, those Senators who are presently detained or incarcerated and one Senator in hiding or being fugitive from law, cannot vote, however, they are still members of the Senate in the eyes of the law, more so the Constitution, and of the people who voted for them.
Stated otherwise and more concretely, it could be legally tenable to argue that Senators Rodante D. Marcoleta and Jinggoy E. Estrada (both detained) as well as Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa (fugitive or in hiding) may not be allowed to vote given their present circumstances, however, for purposes of determining the base figure in arriving at what is the 2/3 threshold, these mentioned absentee Senators are still and still are Members of the Senate in the eyes of the Law and the 1987 Constitution, and of the millions of Filipino people who voted for them.
Prescinding from the foregoing legal discussion, it may be possible that only 21 Senators can vote on the impeachment proceedings or even less number of Senators at the actual time and date of the voting, however, this does not erase the unequivocal unblemished legal truth that the 2/3 threshold concurrence to sustain conviction on the impeachment must be based and premised on the total number of Members of the Senate, which at present is 24, less those who may have died, removed from Office, and Resigned from Office immediately prior to the actual voting on the impeachment proceedings itself.
On another note, while many school of thoughts on this legal issue have been brought to life, yet our government has not presented any doable and realistic solutions to our power outages we are currently experiencing, not to mention the perennial problem about flooding that has caused already untold destruction both to life and property, and countless more pressing problems that all of us, especially the marginalized sectors of our society, are facing.
Where are we going to as a nation and people?
Thus, this is a grim reminder to all our fellow Filipinos. By election time, scrutinized carefully all candidates. "Kilatisa" pag-ayo, kung kinsa ang tinud-anay o kinsa ang nagpakaaron-ingnon lang". Vote according to conscience not according to money. Ayaw kalimti ang tanang nipahimulos sa mga "flood-control projects" og ilubong sila sa muluabot nga piniliay.
On Election Day, let us redeem our country for once. 2028 is our last chance. Do not waste it.
