Marcoleta forgoes participation in impeach trial

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta is no longer inclined to participate in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial amid ongoing discussions to count out absent senators like him in the voting threshold to convict.

In a statement issued Monday night, Marcoleta said the ongoing proceedings are flawed, pointing specifically to the designation of Sen. Francis Escudero as presiding officer and the chamber’s attempt to lower the voting threshold for conviction.

Marcoleta also opposed the Senate’s move to rely on its internal rules to determine the number of votes required to convict an impeached official.

“In my humble view, the Senate cannot invoke its internal rules to rewrite a voting threshold prescribed by the Constitution,” he stated.

“More fundamentally, the Senate’s rule-making authority is merely procedural, not constituent. An internal rule cannot amend, expand or override the substantive commands of the Constitution. As the legal maxim teaches, ‘A spring cannot rise higher than its source,’” he added.

Marcoleta warned that if the Senate adopts a voting threshold that deviates from the Constitution’s plain language while being led by a presiding officer of “doubtful constitutional validity,” it would fatally taint the legitimacy and integrity of the trial.

“Any judgment rendered therefrom would be vulnerable to serious constitutional challenge,” he said.

“I therefore cannot lend my participation to such an infirm process as it may be construed as acquiescence,” he added.