13/07/2026
Why 16 votes are needed despite 3 Senators cannot attend?
""suspension is not synonimous to removal from office.""
Under the 1987 Constitution it says two third of all the members of the Senate is needed to convict an impeachable Officer like VP Sara. Meaning it is equivalent to 16 votes.
The question now is that the 3 Senators (jinggoy, Marcoleta and Bato) are not in the Court to participat and vote. So can they be counted in the 24 Senators to get the 2/3 vote?
The answer is yes. Because, they are still members of the Senate to which their memberships are deemed included in the 24 members. Even it the three Senators are not present, they are not yet removed from office as Senators so they are still members. Only when a Senator has been removed by the Senate as a member, resigned or died, he is still a member.
Now Sen. Jinggoy is preventively suspended by Sandiganbayan due to his Plunder case. So how his membership be treated now? Take note that suspension is not synonimous to removal from office. He may not be able discharge his duties and resposibilities as a Senator temporarily; nevertheless, he is still a member of the Senate.
Sen. Bato is still a member; hence, his act of hiding does not equate to removal from office. The COERSIVE POWER of the Senate can still be directed upon his person.
In the event they cannot vote due to their respective predicaments, their inability to vote is deemed and considered abstain. Ironically, in the legal sense, abstain is to be construed as no vote.
DURA LEX SED LEX - The law may be harsh, but that is still the law.