House refusal to accept Sara's filing may stall trial

The Senate impeachment court warned that the House of Representatives’ refusal to accept a document marking the formal entry of Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team could potentially delay the impeachment proceedings.

In a radio interview, Senate impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol explained that before any filing is accepted by the impeachment court, the opposing party — in this case, the House — must first receive a copy.

"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.

He added that this could trigger further delays, as the prosecution might object: “‘Don’t accept that, impeachment court, because we didn’t receive it.’” Meanwhile, he noted the other side could argue, it was delivered, but was refused to be accepted.

Tongol said the House's refusal to accept the document could lead to another source of conflict between the two chambers.

“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 noted.

“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.”