'It's up to senator-judges to explain vote'

MANILA, Philippines - When the senator-judges cast their vote on the impeachment case of Chief Justice Renato Corona today, they have the option to explain or not their respective votes.

However, Sen. Edgardo Angara, who will cast the first vote based on the alphabetical listing of senators, said that it is important for each of his colleagues to explain how they came to their respective decisions.

“Whatever is my vote, I would like to explain to my colleagues and to the public why I am voting that way,” Angara said.

Angara recalled that this would be the second time that he would be required to come out with a very public vote on an important issue.

The first time was in 1991 when the Senate was asked to decide on the fate of the United States military bases in the country.

At that time, Angara was also the first to cast his vote and he explained his decision before a national audience.

Angara would most likely set the trend for the other senators who have no choice but to stand up and announce their votes based on Rule XXI of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials.

“I think it is always good to put your explanation in a historic vote like this because you don’t do this everyday,” Angara said.

“This is rare, perhaps once every century or once in decades, so this is a momentous occasion,” he added.

Based on Rule XXI of the rules on impeachment, “on the final question whether the impeachment is sustained, the vote shall be taken on each Article of Impeachment separately; and if the impeachment shall not, upon any of the articles presented, be sustained by the votes of two-thirds of all the members, a judgment of acquittal shall be entered.”

“But if the person impeached in such Articles of Impeachment shall be convicted upon any of said articles by the votes of two-thirds of all the members, the Senate shall proceed to pronounce judgment of conviction,” according to the rules.

This means that if the Chief Justice is convicted on Article 2, then voting on Articles 3 and 7 would no longer have to be taken.

Under the rules, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer of the court, will cast the last vote on each article.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III pointed out that each of the senator-judges would be given up to two minutes to explain their votes.

He said that it might take just an hour to finish the voting because not all of the senators will use up all their two minutes.

“Some will need just one minute or maybe just five seconds, in my case maybe only 10 seconds,” Sotto said.

“In my case, I am waiting until the last minute. As a matter of fact, I plan to listen to the votes and the explanation of my colleagues tomorrow before I formally cast my vote,” he added.

According to Sotto, some of the senators could just submit their explanation for the record in order to save time.