House refusal to accept Duterte lawyers’ entry may delay trial – Senate

Vice President Sara Duterte — Inquirer photo by Grig C. Montegrande

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives’ refusal to accept the document indicating the formal entry of Vice President Sara Duterte’s lawyers may delay the impeachment proceedings, the Senate impeachment court said on Tuesday.

In an interview with DZMM, impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol explained that for a court filing to be accepted by the impeachment court, it must first be ensured that the other party—in this case, the House of Representatives—has received a copy.

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“That notation is very significant because the prosecution might say that they were not given a copy. So they need to note when they are filing the pleading that there was a refusal of receipt, and just hand over the copy to the person they found there so that the impeachment court can receive what was filed,” Tongol said.

“So this is significant because they might see another delay, as it is another issue that the prosecution will raise: ‘Oh, don’t accept that, impeachment court, because we didn’t receive it,’” he added. “The person receiving the item will, meanwhile, say, ‘Oh no, we sent it, but you refused to take it.’”

Last Monday, Tongol shared copies of the document indicating the formal entry of Duterte’s lawyers, which was submitted to the Senate impeachment court at 5:03 p.m.

The document showed that the House was listed on page 3 as having been furnished a copy at 3:42 p.m. the same day, but with a remark: “Tender copy refused to receive.”

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In the radio interview, Tongol said the House’s refusal could become another point of contention with the Senate.

Asked whether this would again delay the impeachment process, he replied that it would depend on “the pleasure of the prosecution.”

“If they raise that as an issue that they didn’t receive it, it’s likely that it will be debated and it will take a long time,” he added. “That’s why we say that is part of judicial proceedings, and that lawyers have technical strategies for a case to not move forward or move forward.”

On Feb. 5, the House impeached Duterte on grounds that included “culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and graft and corruption.”

On June 11, the Senate impeachment court issued the writ of summons, giving Duterte 10 days to respond to the articles of impeachment the House transmitted to the upper chamber./mcm/abc