The Supreme Court has dismissed three petitions that challenge the Senate ruling on the 2/3 conviction vote.

On September 23, thirteen Senator-judges voted in favor of the appeal of Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo.

The vote allows for overturning the ruling set by Senate Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero on July 6, where 16 votes for conviction are required based on the 24 members of the Senate.

In line with this, Senator-judge Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito agrees to follow the decision of the Supreme Court over the dismissal of the petitions.

“Just follow the Highest Court in the land,” he said

Because the Supreme Court did not favor the petition challenging the ruling of the Senate impeachment court, this means the trial will proceed. This was confirmed by Senator-judge and Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian following the denial of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and the status quo ante order filed in the petition.

“Dalawa ang finile. Isang prayer for a TRO. Isang prayer for a status quo ante. Both hindi binigay. Ibig sabihin, tuloy ang impeachment,” he said

This also aligns with the statement of Senator-judge Joel Villanueva

“I don't see any stumbling block for the impeachment court to proceed,” he said

Meanwhile, the defense team previously stated that they will first weigh whether they will file a petition with the Supreme Court.

According to Defense Spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa, there are still matters they need to consider before actually filing a petition, which is why he could not specify an exact date for when they might file the matter with the Supreme Court.

“Filing a petition is easy, but there are so many things that we're also considering, of course, in communication with our client, so I will not give a specific date at this time or even say that we will definitely file,” he said

Atty. Poa assured that they will release an official statement once they file a petition.

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