Manila: A 25-year-old Senate precedent in which only 13 senators were needed to concur in four treaties surfaced Wednesday as a possible guide in resolving the disputed voting threshold in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri presented excerpts from the Senate journal dated March 19, 2001, showing the same 13 senators voting in favor of four international agreements.
According to Philippines News Agency, the precedent drew attention because Article VII, Section 21 of the Constitution requires treaties to obtain concurrence from at least two-thirds of "all the Members of the Senate"-the same phrase used in Article XI, Section 3(6) for conviction in an impeachment trial. At the time of the treaty votes, the 24-member Senate had already lost four members: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had been elected vice president, Marcelo Fernan had died, Teofisto Guingona Jr. had been appointed vice president, and Raul Roco had been appointed education secretary.
Zubiri also noted that then-senator Francisco Tatad was abroad on official mission. This left 19 senators available when 13 votes were accepted as sufficient to concur in the treaties-an episode Zubiri presented as a legislative precedent in determining what "all the Members of the Senate" could mean when the chamber is below its full complement or a member cannot participate. The four agreements involved the Copenhagen Amendments to the Montreal Protocol, the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, and the proposed Fourth Amendment to the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund.
Retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban answered that the Senate did not violate the Constitution in approving the treaties with 13 votes. "The short answer is no. The Senate did not commit any act that is contrary to the Constitution," Panganiban said. He nevertheless cautioned that treaty concurrence and impeachment involve different constitutional functions.
"In that particular instance that you said, Your Honor, the Senate was sitting as a ratifying body of treaties. In this instance, in the present instance, it is an impeachment court," Panganiban said. He noted that treaty concurrence involves deliberation, while impeachment requires a trial where senator-judges receive and evaluate evidence before rendering judgment.
Zubiri also pointed out that the Constitution employs two-thirds voting requirements in five areas: declaration of a state of war, overriding a presidential veto, treaty concurrence, impeachment conviction, and calling a constitutional convention. As chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, Zubiri said legislative precedents may be consulted when Senate rules do not specifically address a question before the chamber.
