[Rear View] DDS senators have the numbers to acquit. Why aren’t they cheering?

The Senate minority's survival now depends on the Ombudsman, the justice department, The Hague, and the Supreme Court The impeachment court's decision to lower the conviction threshold for Vice President Sara Duterte also lowers the threshold for acquittal, creating uncertainty for the minority senators who are not celebrating. The minority's support is fragile, with Senator Mark Villar breaking ranks and potential legal troubles affecting the stability of their votes, which could further decrease the number of senators available for the trial. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. Following last week’s vote by the impeachment court to lower the conviction threshold in the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, House prosecutor Gerville Luistro reminded everyone, particularly those cheering at the looming certainty of conviction, that the lower conviction threshold also meant a lower threshold for acquittal. With 20 senators as the denominator, conviction needs 14 votes, which means seven “not guilty” votes will acquit the Vice President. Seven. That’s exactly how many DDS-minority senators are physically present at the moment. (Editor’s note: DDS is a common reference to Duterte Diehard Supporters.) But the minority senators aren’t high-fiving each other. Minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano, the blessed bearded one, hasn’t fallen on his knees to thank the heavens or shaved off his facial hair, which he said he grew in protest over injustice and oppression. The DDS talking heads and their troll armies haven’t flooded our feeds with victory statements and memes. Why is that? Allow me to offer two possibilities. One, they can’t celebrate a formula they’re calling unconstitutional. It shatters the oppression narrative, which portrays the Vice President as a victim of a vindictive Marcos administration — one that, in collusion with majority senators, will go to extremes to take her out of the 2028 presidential race by securing her conviction, even put her in jail. Latter-day constitutionalists The vote has converted the Vice President, the Dutertes, the minority senators, and the DDS to latter-day constitutionalists. For them, the Constitution is a covenant written in stone, sacred and inviolate. What the majority senators and one minority senator did, they insist, was unconstitutional. It’s classic DDS sleight of hand. During the reign of Duterte the father, charter provisions mandating the protection and respect for human rights were willfully ignored in the name of the drug war. The former president himself, now detained at The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity, once likened the Constitution to toilet paper. True to the narrative, Vic Rodriguez, a former Marcos official turned DDS, has asked the Supreme Court to void the ruling as unconstitutional and restrain its enforcement. Thus, cheering the new formula would mean accepting the very premise they’re asking the tribunal to strike down. Two, and more practical: The minority’s seven isn’t a solid seven. Senator Mark Villar, who has replaced Senator Lito Lapid as the Senate’s quiet one, surprisingly broke from the minority twice during the September 23 session: first abstaining on his bloc’s bid to defer the threshold vote, then joining the majority to lower the threshold for conviction. Both Mark and Senator Camille Villar are among the family members named in criminal and administrative complaints filed by the Ombudsman on September 18 over PrimeWater’s water district deals, five days before the vote. Senator Imee Marcos, the President’s elder sister and a member of the minority, hinted that Mark’s vote could have been linked to the family’s legal troubles, saying “we know what he’s going through.” Cayetano insisted that Villar remains with the minority, but he offered the assurance without his usual cocksure bluster. The minority has zero margin, and the quiet Villar has already broken ranks twice. And the seven may become six without anyone switching sides. The shrinking denominator The new formula counts only senators who are “legally and factually” able to participate when the verdict is rendered, tentatively in December. The denominator isn’t frozen at 20. It can shrink every time another senator-judge lands in detention or goes into hiding. Senator Robin Padilla faces a preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice for allegedly helping Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa slip out of the Senate in May. Cayetano is under investigation for alleged ghost flood control projects and illegal reclamation in Taguig, his home turf. Let’s not forget the former Duterte aide, Senator Bong Go, named in February by International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors as an alleged co-perpetrator, along with senator-in-hiding de la Rosa and other former police chiefs, in the crimes against humanity case against the elder Duterte. Lose one more minority senator and the denominator drops to 19. Conviction then needs 13 “guilty” votes. Acquittal still needs seven “not guilty” votes. Impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero pointed this out when he cast the lone dissenting vote: a shrinking denominator lowers the bar for conviction faster than it lowers the bar for acquittal. The minority’s best shield was the full 24-member count, and that shield is gone. Its survival now depends on the Ombudsman, the justice department, The Hague, and the Supreme Court. So no, there’s no cheering. Seven is a number you celebrate only if you’re sure you’ll still have it when the votes are cast. – Rappler.com Joey Salgado is a former journalist, and a government and political communications practitioner. He served as spokesperson for former vice president Jejomar Binay. How does this make you feel? Loading