Duterte’s spox on declining interviews during impeachment: It was ‘strategic’

Vice President Sara Duterte’s spokesperson Michael Poa. (Photo from RTVM / PCO website)

MANILA, Philippines — It was part of the strategy of the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte not to grant formal interviews while the entire impeachment proceedings were ongoing, spokesperson Michael Poa said on Wednesday.

Poa said this when asked whether the names in the confidential funds of Duterte’s offices, like Mary Grace Piattos, were only aliases and whether the law allows such entries.

“We are not here to state yet if those are aliases or if that’s correct, because I think these things will be presented better before either a court of law or (an) impeachment court. I really apologize. It’s not that I don’t want to answer you directly. It’s just that we really don’t want to preempt our defenses,” Poa said over ABS-CBN News Channel.

“And that’s also why we were—it was strategic for us not to really take interviews from February all the way to just a few weeks ago before the Supreme Court decision came out – because we don’t really want to preempt our defenses and make this a trial by publicity,” he continued.

On February 5, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte, with 215 members of the chamber voting in favor of the complaint.

On July 25, SC spokesperson Camille Ting announced that the Articles of Impeachment sent by the House to the Senate were unconstitutional for violating the 1987 Constitution’s one-year bar.

The lower chamber has since filed a motion for reconsideration to appeal the SC’s ruling on Duterte’s impeachment, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez announced on Monday.

If convicted in a Senate impeachment trial, Duterte may be permanently disqualified from holding public office. /apl/abc