The Senate impeachment court’s reported reluctance to swear in 12 new senator-judges until the 20th Congress officially convenes in late July is another strategy aimed at delaying Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial, a House prosecutor said Thursday.

San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora argued that the new batch of senator-judges could already take their oath before Senate President Chiz Escudero, saying the opening of a new Congress does not remove him as the presiding officer of the impeachment court.

“If they [decide to replace him], that will definitely happen. But, in the meantime, he is still the Senate President, and the Senate is a continuing body, especially in this matter,” Zamora said in an interview.

Her remarks came after Senate impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said the 12 new senators — who replaced half of the senator-judges sworn in during the 19th Congress — could only take their oath when a new Senate president is installed.

Traditionally, congressional votes for House Speaker and Senate President are held during the formal opening of each new Congress, hours before the President’s State of the Nation Address.

The 20th Congress will officially convene on 28 July, but Tongol said the 12 new senators could not be sworn in on the same day, with the earliest possible date likely being the day after.