FORMER Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez filed on Thursday, September 24, 2026, a petition urging the Supreme Court to declare null and void the ruling of the Senate impeachment court lowering the basis for the two-thirds vote needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte.
Rodriguez filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with an urgent application for a temporary restraining order and/or writ of parliamentary injunction, challenging the impeachment court’s September 23 ruling that abandoned the fixed 16-vote requirement based on the full 24-member Senate.
Under the ruling, only senators who are legally and factually capable of participating in the proceedings when the judgment is rendered are allowed to vote.
Rodriguez pointed out in the petition the provisions of Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution, which explicitly require a two-thirds vote of all members of the Senate to convict an impeached official.
He said that a senator’s absence or inability to participate in the proceedings does not automatically remove him or her from the constitutional membership of the upper chamber.
He specifically questioned the exclusion of senators who are detained, medically incapacitated, outside the Senate’s coercive process, being sought by authorities, or otherwise legally or factually unable to participate, noting that these circumstances do not change the constitutional composition of the Senate.
Rodriguez also urged the high court to declare that the constitutional phrase “all Members of the Senate” refers to the entire 24-member Senate and to rule that the chamber cannot alter the constitutional denominator for the voting threshold for conviction in an impeachment trial.
He also called for the Supreme Court to reinstate the July 6 ruling of impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero that 16 votes are required to convict.
Two months into the job, former Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez resigned, citing the need for more time for his young, growing family.
Before Malacañang, he was President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s longtime chief of staff and campaign spokesperson during the 2022 presidential campaign. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)