Luistro: Conviction threshold to be tackled after pre-trial, may ask SC

MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution team will discuss issues involving the threshold needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte once the pre-trial conference is over, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said on Friday.

Luistro was asked in an online interview whether the threshold issue — or proposals to lower the minimum number of votes needed to convict Duterte after the impeachment trial due to several senators’ absence — was discussed during the pre-trial conference.

According to Luistro, head of the public prosecution panel for the trial, they will tackle the matter — including a possibility that they will go to the Supreme Court (SC) — once the pre-trial conference is over.

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READ: Luistro sees Duterte impeachment trial finished by September

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“It has not been brought up, maybe after this pre-trial conference we will focus discussing this one, and come up with the position of the prosecution if we will do something, if this is qualified to become a subject matter of a petition in court,” Luistro told reporters covering the House of Representatives.

“Whether we can apply the doctrine used in the case of Avelino versus Cuenco, that it should pertain only to the members of the Senate who are within the coercive power of the Senate.  I think that one should go to the Supreme Court,” she added.

However, Luistro said that she does not want to discuss this issue now since she has yet to consult her colleagues in the public and private prosecution team, and because other parties to the matter have different views on the matter.

“Of course we recognize also the legal position of the other parties with respect to the threshold and that is why, even if I have my own position, I consider that as personal, the threshold must depend on the number of senators within the coercive means or power of the Senate […] But I do recognize the position contrary (to the) opinion of the others,” she said.

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“That is why it would be better to have an enlightenment on the matter even before the conclusion of the trial, even before the rendition of judgment so that everyone is guided […] I am not yet sure, and that is why I also want to solicit the opinion of my colleagues in the public prosecutors and of course those abogado de campanilla from our private prosecutors,” she added.

READ: Sara Duterte impeachment pre-trial conference commences

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Due to the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada over plunder raps, the absence of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa who has gone out of the public eye due to arrest orders against him from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the possibility that more senators would be charged for graft and corruption-related raps, there were questions whether 16 votes would still be the minimum needed to convict Duterte.

Last Monday, Luistro said that the vote threshold for convicting Duterte in her impeachment trial should be reduced from 16 to 14 if more senators eventually become unable to participate in the proceedings.

“My position is to apply the doctrine in Avelino,” she said during Monday’s press briefing. “So our test should be: Are they still within the coercive power of the Senate? If the answer is no, then the number should be reduced to 14.”

But last June 10, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian — while he was still Senate President Pro Tempore — said that 16 votes will still be required to convict Duterte.

Gatchalian said that while the 12-person quorum during the June 3 session, which allowed his election, was legal through the Avelino doctrine, this does not apply to the impeachment court.

The impeachment proceedings is currently at the state of pre-trial conference, with the prosecution team and the defense panel first meeting on Thursday to lay down their stipulations, statement of facts, witnesses, and evidence.

Luistro explained earlier that they have finished submitting stipulations and the list of witnesses, but the prosecution did not finish marking evidence due to the voluminous documents submitted.

This will result in another day for the pre-trial conference, to resume on June 22.

Regardless of what happens in the pre-trial, Luistro said that the Senate Impeachment Court confirmed that July 6 will be the first date of the trial.

The Senate Impeachment Court, in its notice last June 9, said that the pre-trial conference will be held so that the prosecution and the defense can resolve the following matters before trial proper:

Stipulation of facts and simplification of issues

Marking of documentary or real evidence and waiver of objections or admissions on evidence

Number and identification of witnesses

Setting of trial dates

The proposed sequence for the presentation of evidence and possible modification of the order of trial

Such other matters as will promote a fair and expeditious trial of the case /mr

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