Joselito Malig

Article (news)

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED) — Senator Panfilo Lacson personally believes that the votes of 16 senators, or 2/3 of all 24 senators, are needed to convict in an impeachment trial but he maintained that this will ultimately have to be decided by the Senate Impeachment Court. &quot;If I were to interpret the Constitution, and being a non-lawyer, hindi ako nagmamarunong - 2/3 of ALL members… the base number of 24 therefore should not move. But the impeachment court as a collegial body will decide based on the wisdom of the majority of the senator-judges,” Lacson said in a statement. ABS-CBN News asked Lacson how the 90-day suspension of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in connection with his pending case there may affect the required number of votes for conviction in an impeachment trial.Lacson shared the news of Estrada&#x27;s suspension on his social media, with the caption that Estrada cannot participate in the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. &quot;The Sandiganbayan  today hereby “ORDERS the suspension pendente lite of accused Sen Jose “Jinggoy” Ejercito P. Estrada from his present position as Senator of the Republic of the Philippines AND ANY OTHER PUBLIC OFFFICE THAT HE MAY OR HEREAFTER BE HOLDING FOR A PERIOD OF NINETY (90) DAYS…” &quot;Nothing can be clearer than this. Sen Jinggoy CANNOT participate in the impeachment trial of VP Sara Duterte for a period of 90 days,&quot; Lcson said. He also replied to a social media comment which inquired about a hypothetical acquittal if 9 senators are suspended. &quot;If 9 total senators po kunwari (including Jinggoy) ay suspended din, 15 senators left. Meaning po ba Sen. Ping automatic acquitted si Sara?&quot;&quot;Yan na nga ang posibleng absurdity na mangyari, assuming na at least 9 senator judges ang ma-suspend. The trial will be a mere formality ofr acquittal. I&#x27;d rather leave it to the wisdom of court to come up with a practical necessity to intervene,&quot; Lacson said.Before news of Estrada&#x27;s suspension came out, Acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian reaffirmed that 16 senators are required to vote for any conviction in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. &quot;As far as I&#x27;m concerned, it&#x27;s-- not as far as I&#x27;m concerned, in the Constitution it&#x27;s 16,&quot; he said.This even after his social media post on the subject matter was deleted from his social media account. Gatchalian maintained his position is unchanged and it is posted on his <a href="https://wingatchalian.com/news/gatchalian-affirms-2-3-conviction-threshold-in-impeachment-trial-constitutionally-fixed-at-16-votes-june-10-2026/">website</a>.Gatchalian is also preparing for the trial, which he will preside as Senate President.  &quot;Well, yesterday nag-file na ng, ah, pre-trial brief both sides. Ang kakapal nga ng pre-trial brief, &#x27;no? Sixty pages, yung both sides. So we need to review that,” he explained. The Senate Impeachment Court will have a pre-trial conference with both sides this week. &quot;This Thursday mag-uumpisa na yung pre-trial conference. So the team, our impeachment team is preparing for that,&quot; he said.Gatchalian maintained he will preside, for now, when he was asked about the possibility of electing Senator Francis Escudero as presiding officer.

Senator Panfilo Lacson personally believes that the votes of 16 senators, or 2/3 of all 24 senators, are needed to convict in an impeachment trial but he maintained that this will ultimately have to be decided by the Senate Impeachment Court.

Senator Panfilo Lacson personally believes that the votes of 16 senators, or 2/3 of all 24 senators, are needed to convict in an impeachment trial but he maintained that this will ultimately have to be decided by the Senate Impeachment Court.

Lacson: Senate to decide conviction threshold in Sara Duterte impeachment trial

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Lacson: Senate to decide conviction threshold in Sara Duterte impeachment trial

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 16, 2026 06:21 PM PHT

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Updated June 16, 2026 07:58 PM PHT

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