Impeach court spox called out over unauthorized remarks; Raffy Tulfo calls for sanction

Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo called on the Senate impeachment court on Monday to reprimand its spokesperson for recurring unauthorized statements that appeared to preempt the court, particularly the target of handing down a verdict against Vice President Sara Duterte, reportedly set for 16 December.

Atty. Reginald Tongol gave the timeline to the media on Friday, but Tulfo derided the disclosure as a potential overreach, noting that this was not the first time the spokesperson had made similar pronouncements, allegedly without consulting the collective position of the senator-judges.

Tulfo argued that Tongol’s statement about the timeline gives the public the impression that the impeachment court has already “prejudged” the VP’s impeachment case, potentially undermining the impartiality of the ongoing trial and warrants a sanction.

“You issued a warning to the spokesperson of the prosecution in the same manner that you issued a warning to the spokesperson of the defense. It’s about time that we issued a warning to our own spokesperson…Maybe it's about time that we admonish him, Mr. Presiding Officer,” Tulfo said partly in Filipino at the outset of Day 33 of the trial.

“This isn't the first time. He has messed up and failed many times before. It just keeps happening over and over again,” he lamented.

Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero clarified that Tongol’s statements were “not entirely accurate” and were just mere calculations based on the total number of trial days requested in the pre-trial order by both the defense (30 trial days) and the prosecution (62 trial days).

“It’s based on math, not based on the realities on the ground of the trial. It may be a working mathematical equation, but certainly not based on reality, much less is that the point of view of the court,” Escudero said in response.

“So that’s fake news?” Tuflo asked, to which Escudero replied, “Yes,” adding that Tongol will be warned regarding unauthorized projections.

Still, Tulfo said Tongol should refrain from blindsiding the court and making pronouncements that do not represent the impeachment collective viewpoint of senator-judges.

“Good for him; he knows a lot. As for us senator-judges, my colleagues, there are things we don’t know. We’re just caught off guard when he goes in the media. In a sense, he is preempting us,” he lamented.

Tongol was appointed by Escudero, then Senate president, as early as the previous Congress to serve as the impeachment court's official mouthpiece.

However, several senators had repeatedly called him out in the past, expressing displeasure with his press statements made without proper consultation.

Contrary to Tongol's projection, Senate President Win Gatchalian said over the weekend that the trial could conclude earlier and that they could reach a verdict by mid-to-late November, ahead of the passage of the 2027 budget.