The Supreme Court has dismissed three petitions filed by Victor D. Rodriguez, Berteni Cataluña Causing, and Atty. Ernesto B. Francisco, Jr., regarding the Senate ruling on the 2/3 conviction vote due to lack of standing and prematurity.

“The SC dismissed the petitions on procedural grounds including lack of standing and prematurity,” they said

Under the ruling, 13 Senator-judges voted in favor of overturning the rule of Senate Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero to set the conviction vote at 16. With 13 votes, the conviction voting threshold may be lowered to 14. Hence, it drew various opinions from the public.

In line with this, Victor D. Rodriguez filed a petition seeking to nullify the ruling and argued that any proposed change to Article XI, Section 3(6) must undergo an amendment or revision.

“Rodriguez argued that the Impeachment Court effectively amended the Constitution by adding a qualification not found in its text. He asked the SC to nullify the ruling and declare that any change to Article XI, Section 3(6) must go through the constitutional process for amendment or revision. He also sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the ruling,” the SC explained

Causing believes that senators should still be allowed to vote even if they are hiding, detained, or medically unable to attend.

“Causing argued that senators who remain in office should still be counted even if they are in hiding, detained, or medically unable to attend,” according to SC

Francisco also believes that 16 Senate members must be allowed to vote, as this represents the 2/3 of the 24 Senate members stated in the law.

“Francisco similarly argued that because the Constitution provides for a 24- member Senate, conviction requires the concurrence of at least 16 senator-judges,” SC stated

“He maintained that senators who are detained, on medical leave, or temporarily absent remain members of the Senate and should therefore be counted,” they added

On September 23, thirteen Senator-judges voted in favor of the appeal of Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo. The votes overturn the ruling set by Senate Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero on July 6, where 16 conviction votes are required based on the total of 24 Senate members.