VP Sara has until today to answer Senate summons

MANILA, Philippines — Today is the last day for Vice President Sara Duterte to answer the writ of summons issued by the Senate impeachment court, otherwise she loses the right to reply to the charges against her.

Senate President Francis Escudero previously said Duterte received the writ on June 12.

Senate impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol said the “deadliest deadline” was June 23, noting how the last day under the 10-day period upon receipt fell on a weekend when there was no work at the Senate.

The Vice President is facing charges of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, among other charges.

The STAR sought the impeachment court’s confirmation whether Duterte’s legal team had already filed a pleading over the weekend but has yet to get a response. The Office of the Vice President has not publicly commented on the summons.

Under the Senate’s impeachment rules, failure to file a verified answer within the prescribed period allows the court to declare her in default and to proceed with the trial.

“She will not be allowed to present evidence, and a judgment can be rendered on the basis alone of the evidence presented by the prosecutors,” former Senate president Franklin Drilon told reporters.

Should Duterte be declared in default, outgoing Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said her legal team can file a motion to “set aside the Order of Default, upon meritorious grounds and in the interest of justice.”

Duterte’s legal counsels earlier filed their entry of appearance “ad cautelam” before the impeachment court, which stated that the lawyers are entering their appearance as counsel “without prejudice to any jurisdictional and/or other objections” that the Vice President may have in the case.

An ad cautelam pleading indicates that while the party was complying for the sake of caution, it also signals to the court that it is not fully conceding to the process or the court’s jurisdiction.

Earlier, Tongol said ad cautelam pleadings “almost always” indicate that the next step was to file a motion to dismiss.

The entry of appearance ad cautelam indicates the Vice President’s intent to participate in the impeachment proceedings, though her defense team appears poised to contest the court’s jurisdiction.

Questioning the impeachment court’s jurisdiction, Tongol explained, was in line with Duterte’s pending petitions before the SC.

“That is one of her issues. She doesn’t want that to be moot and useless because if it is placed under the jurisdiction of the SC, there is nothing more for the SC to decide upon. To ensure that the petitions they filed will not be wasted, they will file an ad cautelam appearance and possibly motion to dismiss,” he added.

Even if time would run out on the 19th Congress on June 30, the Senate impeachment court earlier acknowledged that proceedings would continue into the 20th Congress.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian earlier said even without prosecutors, senator-judges may still convene and discuss among themselves matters of the case.

‘VP Sara afraid of trial’

Former senator and now incoming ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima personally believes Duterte fears a full-blown impeachment trial in the Senate, where more damning pieces of evidence will come out in relation to her alleged corruption charges.

“You can say, they’re really scared. I mean VP Sara is scared,” she told dwIZ over the weekend.

“What they really want is to stall the trial proper. As much as possible, all of these incriminating evidence must not come out,” she added.

De Lima said Duterte’s fears are evidenced by a coordinated strategy to delay or derail the Senate proceedings, including the filing of multiple legal motions, overseas trips and the possible use of an Ombudsman ruling to preempt the trial.

The Office of the Ombudsman, led by Duterte appointee Samuel Martires, recently ordered the Vice President to respond to plunder, technical malversation and other charges based on a report adopted by the House committee on good government led by Manila Rep. Joel Chua.

The order came weeks after the House endorsed the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte.

De Lima said if the ombudsman dismisses the complaint, it can be used to weaken the prosecution’s case against the Vice President.

De Lima pointed out that the ombudsman’s sudden move to require a counter-affidavit and the pending petition before the Supreme Court questioning the impeachment’s transmittal suggest a pattern.

Meanwhile, senator-elect Panfilo Lacson clarified that only senator-judges themselves, not the presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court, can decide whether to publicly comment on the pending impeachment trial of Duterte. — Delon Porcalla