MANILA — Eleven votes would be needed to overturn the Senate impeachment court’s ruling requiring 16 votes to convict Vice President Sara Duterte if 20 senator-judges participate in the vote, Senate impeachment trial court spokesperson Atty. Reginald Tongol clarified over the weekend.

Tongol corrected his earlier statement that only 10 votes would be needed to reverse the July 6 ruling of impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

He initially said Escudero would not participate in the vote because the 16-vote threshold was based on the presiding officer’s own ruling.

Tongol later said Escudero and Senate Secretary and impeachment court Clerk Renato Bantug Jr. informed him that the presiding officer would also be included in the voting.

This means that if all 20 available senator-judges, including Escudero, cast their votes, a simple majority of 11 votes would be required to overturn the existing ruling.

The 16-vote threshold remains in effect unless the impeachment court decides to reverse or modify it.

Escudero earlier ruled that the constitutional requirement of two-thirds of all Senate members means 16 votes out of the 24-member Senate are required to convict Duterte.

The issue is being revisited following questions over how the voting requirement should apply when some senator-judges are unable to participate in the trial.

The impeachment court is scheduled to hear the views of former Supreme Court justices and constitutional experts serving as amici curiae, or friends of the court, on September 16.

The prosecution and defense are then scheduled to present oral arguments on the voting threshold on September 23.

The court’s eventual ruling could determine whether the existing 16-vote requirement will remain throughout Duterte’s impeachment trial.