Estong Reyes 
HINDI sapat ang bilang ng Senate majority para patalsikin si Vice President Sara Duterte sa bisa ng impeachment trial na isasagawa ng senado pagpasok ng buwan ng Hulyo.
Pag-amin ni Acting Senate President at Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian, 16 na boto — katumbas ng ⅔ ng kabuuang bilang ng mga senador — ang kailangan para mahatulan si Duterte.
Meron lang 12 miyembro ang senate majority na kinabibilangan ni Gatchalian.
“Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution states unequivocally that no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate,” wika ng bagong lider ng senado.
“With the Senate’s membership fixed at 24, the conviction threshold is 16 votes, and it will remain 16 votes regardless of how many senators attend the trial, which bloc controls the chamber, or who presides over the impeachment court,” dugtong ni Gatchalian.
Una nang sinabi ni Gatchalian na siya ang tatayong presiding officer ng impeachment court — bagay na kinontra ni Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano kasabay ng giit na siya pa rin ang lehitimong Senate President kaya siya pa rin umano ang presiding officer sa nalalapit na impeachment trial.
Nanindigan naman si Gatchalian sa legalidad ng pagbuo ng bagong Senate majority bloc na kinikilala ng Malacañang at ng Kamara.
“The process is on track. The rules are clear. And the constitutional threshold — 16 votes, will be faithfully observed.”
