The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, on Wednesday lowered the number of votes needed to convict Vice-President Sara Duterte, reducing the threshold prosecutors must clear to secure a guilty verdict.
The court ruled that only senator-judges able to take part in the trial should be counted when determining the threshold for conviction. Four of the 24 senator-judges have been unable to take part in the proceedings and cannot vote.
The decision means prosecutors now need 14 votes for a conviction, instead of the 16 votes required when all 24 are taking part. Some senators had argued to keep the 16-vote threshold regardless of the four absences, which would have made it more challenging to convict Duterte.