THERE are 24 senators, a number posted as sacrosanct by the Philippine Constitution. No issue there so far.
At present, Senator Bato dela Rosa is missing and at large because of the ICC warrant, which is still a legal issue that is pending resolution in the Supreme Court as to its enforceability.
And currently too, Senator Jinggoy Estrada is in kalaboso because of the plunder case filed against him which is non-bailable.
Question – is Bato dela Rosa still a senator?
Answer – yes, because he has not been removed as senator as yet, or if ever, though he is missing.
Another question – is Jinggoy Estrada still a senator?
Answer – of course, because he is still charged, no conviction yet and no removal yet as senator of the republic.
Ergo, there are still 24 senators.
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Again, in the Philippine Constitution, another sacrosanct provision on impeachment conviction is 2/3 of all the senators. Yes, all the senators.
And mind you, there is no qualifying word “present” preceding the word “senators” which means all the 24 senators.
This is the main difference between the US Constitution – which provides the qualifier word “present senators” as compared to the Philippine Constitution – which merely states “all the senators.”
This clearly means that the 2/3 vote needed to convict an impeachable official is 16, not 15 or any number lower.
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The prosecution panel led by Cong. Luistro and company is strongly pushing for a lower number, not 16 kuno because Bato and Jinggoy cannot be counted, so namugos sila nga there are only 22 senators who can act as senator-judges sa impeachment trial.
Their basis – the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Avelino versus Cuenco case, which prescribed a lower number because several senators, at that time, were missing or outside of the jurisdiction of the Philippine government.
But for discussion purposes, this case was dismissed by the Supreme Court and there was only an orbiter dictum.
So what is an orbiter dictum – it is a Latin phrase which means “something said in passing”. In the Philippine legal context, it refers to an incidental comment, opinion, or remark made by a judge in a court decision that is not strictly essential to the resolution of the case.
As compared to ratio decidendi which is the actual reason or rationale behind the court’s decision and therefore binding and must be followed by lower courts in similar cases, an orbiter dictum is not binding and cannot be used as strict legal precedent.
Hence, Luistro and company are banking on a non-binding opinion of case decided by the Supreme Court.
Moreover, it must be stressed that the Avelino case was grounded on the 1935 Constitution where the impeachment provisions were substantially different from the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
* * *
But stripped of non-essentials, why does the prosecution panel want a lower number for conviction?
Siyempre, they want VP Sara to be removed as vice president, one, and two, which is the most important, so she would be barred from running as president in 2028. Mao ra gyod ni udlot ug tumoy aning tanan.
So that explains the hemming and hawing right now from the trolls, from the camp of Luisto and the Kakampinks, as well as from the members of the Maleta Gang in the senate.
* * *
All the while, BBM has been saying ”mahiya naman kayo” in response to the eskandalosong 5,500 flood control projects which he included in his 2024 SONA as one of his administration’s accomplishments but later in his 2025 SONA, he strongly condemned as a corruption in flood control projects.
Ulawa pod nang pataka lang ta og yawit sa mga accomplishments kunohay pero perteng sayopa diay kay gikurakot lang. Wa lang pod niya kasab-i ang iyang Secretary sa DPWH nga maoy naghungit niya og pan-os o bahaw o di makaon o hilabihang sayopa nga pagkaon para sa iyang state of the nation address.
Anyway, what did BBM do in his 2025 SONA human siya mo-anunsiyo og sayop nga kalamposan?
Apart from his “mahiya naman kayo” spiel, he also ordered a strict review of all flood mitigation projects funded over the past 3 years to prosecute those responsible for substandard or “ghost” infrastructure.
Pangutana – aduna bay migawas nga mga pangalan sa nangurakot human sa iyang gihimong makuting imbestigasyon?
Nada, zilch.
Aduna bay gipasakaan og kaso unya napadad-an og warrant aron presohon?
Again, nada, zilch.
Storbot ra diay to tanan.
* * *
The majority senators under senator Sherwin Gatchalian are apparently moving heaven and earth to avoid a Marcoleta-led investigation on the flood control projects. Di sila gusto mogawas ang kamatuoran.
Plus, ang gipili pa gyod nga mo-head sa Blue Ribbon committee kadtong senador nga naapil sa Maleta Gang, na-eskandalo tungod sa Sylvester visa sa US – the reason he is facing a quo warranto case in the Comelec – ug uban pang criminal conviction.
Well, kadtong nakalimot na, this is a brief recall – his alleged wife, Julie Licup Pearson, filed a petition to disqualify Erwin Tulfo from running for public office on the following grounds: 1) he had been convicted of libel, a crime involving moral turpitude; and 2) he had allegedly committed an election offense by illegally advertising his candidacy on his show, called “Raffy Tulfo in Action.”
What happened – gi-dismiss sa Comelec because of lack of jurisdiction, it should have been filed before the senate electoral tribunal. Meaning – the case was dismissed on technicalities ug wala ma-resolve ang mga issues on their merits.
And this is the same guy who sits as chair of the all-powerful senate blue ribbon committee?
Magdahom pa diay ta og kaangayan ug kahusay sa issue sa 5,500 flood control scandal?????
