Manila:The Senate's new voting formula for Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial modifies which senators are counted in determining the verdict without altering the constitutional mandate of a two-thirds vote, as confirmed by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and Senator Risa Hontiveros.

According to Philippines News Agency, the revision addresses which senators are included in the voting base when some cannot participate, rather than lowering the two-thirds threshold. Gatchalian noted that the constitutional requirement remains unchanged, emphasizing that the focus was on defining the voting members when absences occur.

The impeachment court's newly established rule states that only senators legally and factually capable of participating at the verdict time will be counted in the denominator for the two-thirds vote calculation. This change impacts how votes are tallied for conviction or acquittal but does not predetermine Duterte's fate.

Hontiveros stressed that the Senate should not be incapacitated due to absent senator-judges during the final vote. She argued that absences should not disable the institution from representing the Filipino people, and each senator must cast a vote when called upon.

Both Gatchalian and Hontiveros referenced the input from the amici curiae, which helped them interpret how the phrase 'two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate' should apply in cases of non-participation. The ultimate goal, according to Hontiveros, is to maintain the Senate's constitutional accountability without absences impeding a verdict.

The new rule specifies that the eligible senators at the time of voting will be used to compute the required two-thirds majority, with any resulting fractions rounded up to the nearest whole vote. This rule applies solely to Duterte's trial and does not set a precedent for future impeachment proceedings.