The Office of the Ombudsman affirmed its previous statements, asserting that Senator Robinhood Padilla was unable to comply with the deadline set by their office to submit a counter-affidavit on the complaint filed against him.

On Monday, 20 July, Padilla manifested before the Senate impeachment court that contrary to the previous statement of the Ombudsman that he failed to respond and had supposedly “ignored” its order to respond to its investigations.

The senator stated that the assertions of the investigative body were unwarranted and that he was saddened with the untruthful information that was being raised against him.

However, during the same day, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano maintained that their office had not received the reply of Padilla, reiterating that the deadline for submission of the document had already passed.

“It’s good that he showed a counter-affidavit that he said was original, but it has not yet been reflected in our system. The time to file a counter-affidavit had already lapsed, so we will rely on what our systems says and we will take it from there,” Clavano told reporters.

Last Friday, 17 July, it was Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla himself that announced that the senator was the only one among the three respondents in the complaint that has not responded to their call.

To recall, the case stemmed from the escape of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa from the Senate compound on 14 May.

Aside from Padilla, former Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and dismissed Acting Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Mao Aplasca were also tagged as co-conspirators in the alleged crime.

Remulla had mentioned that only Cayetano submitted his response on the matter, while Aplasca had requested for an extension to submit a reply.

The information was confirmed by Clavano, stating that only Cayetano’s reply was in their records.

“So as of right now, only Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s counter affidavit reflects in our system,” he said.

The DAILY TRIBUNE has contacted the staff of Padilla to acquire a copy of the counter-affidavit he presented to the court.