Jamaine Punzalan

Sen. Robinhood Padilla attends the  Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing  on the alleged anomalous flood control projects in the country at the Senate plenary hall in Pasay City on September 23, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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SENATE PROBE- FLOOD CONTROL ANOMALIES

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178452824762720250923-senate-probe-flood-control-padilla-marcoleta-JC3752 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Sen. Robinhood Padilla attends the  Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing  on the alleged anomalous flood control projects in the country at the Senate plenary hall in Pasay City on September 23, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News     </div>MANILA — Sen. Robin Padilla denied Monday the Office of the Ombudsman’s remark that he supposedly ignored an order to submit his counter-affidavit in response to an obstruction of justice complaint for allegedly helping Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; dela Rosa escape the Senate compound on May 14. “Ang sinabi po ng mahal na Ombudsman, ako raw po ay hindi sumunod sa kanilang pasabi na mag-file ng aking counter affidavit. Nakakalungkot po ito sapagkat hindi po ito totoo,” Padilla said during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. “Inaamin ko po sa inyo, kung ICC lang, hindi po talaga ako susunod. Hindi ako magpapasakop sa ICC. Pero dahil ginagalang ko po ang Ombudsman, dahil siya ay aking kaibigan na itinuturing…nag-file po kami,” he added, showing what he said was a copy of counter-affidavit. Dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, had sought shelter at the Senate, but left hours after a shooting incident rocked its premises. He was seen leaving the Senate with Padilla.Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday Padilla “chose to ignore” his office’s order for a counter-affidavit. “They&#x27;re given a chance to deny or to dispute or to reason out. But he can choose to waive. I mean, it looks like he has chosen to waive it. I don&#x27;t know if he&#x27;s being given any legal advice,” he added.Sen. Erwin Tulfo said that while he understood Padilla’s “frustrations”, the impeachment court &quot;is not the right forum and the right venue, and not the right time to explain your situation.&quot;&quot;Kung gusto po ninyong mag-eksplika ng inyong mga saloobin, problema, maaari naman po ninyong gawin ‘yan sa labas po ng oras ng impeachment court  ‘Wag po nating gamitin ang oras ng impeachment court sa pagpapaliwanag o pagtatanggol ng ating mga sarili simula noong nakaraang pang linggo,&quot; he said. <div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w2ukcVuDOYQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div><div>‘INTEGRITY OF THE COURT’  </div><div> </div>Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano argued that the issue raised by Padilla concerned the “integrity of the court.” “Regarding the waste of time here, sabi ni Senator Joker Arroyo, it is useless to argue a legal point with a non-lawyer. When senator Marcoleta brought that here, nagkaroon ng commotion. So let me give my own interpretation: the impeachment court is formed with lawyers and non-lawyers, and we interact, and it’s for everyone, and we’re equal… Ang legal principle natin today is simple: integrity ng court,” Cayetano said. “The integrity of the court and the justices or judges is always relevant. So, if the Supreme Court or Comelec, Court of Tax Appeals, Sandiganbayan is being heard and the judges are being threatened, you give them time. We cannot take the impeachment out of context,” he said. Sen. Vicente Sotto III then said, “I do not have four years of law, but I have 29 years of lawmaking.” “And I move that the manifestations we have heard be referred to the Senate proper,” he said. Trial presiding officer Francis Escudero said the Senate would act on the manifestations at “the proper time.” “Wala po kasi kaming session, ito lang ang pagkakataon na nagkakapagsalita at nagkikita-kita kami habang recess kami. Pero umaasa ako…na kapag nag-resume na po ang Senado matapos ang SONA ng Panuglo, may pagkakataon na poang mga miyembro ng Senado — bilang senador, hindi bilang senator-judge — na mailabas ang mga hinaing o ano mang nais nilang sabihin kaugnay sa ano mang nagaganap o nangyayaring hindi tama laban sa kanila,” Escudero said. “And that, I think, is the proper forum for us to ventilate, discuss, look into, and if necessary, investigate the allegations and accusations against senator-judges,” he said. Senate President Win Gatchalian agreed, saying the issue should be tackled when the session resumes “in one week’s time.” “With the indulgence of our colleagues, importante ho yung oras ng trial sa mga darating na panahon,” he said. Tulfo then asked Escudero: “Can we start now?” “We wasted 26 minutes for nothing,” he said. Meanwhile, House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong expressed optimism that the presiding officer would not let the impeachment trial be used as a “platform” for tackling “outside issues”.“I hope this can be resolved. I hope they can have  their own way of resolving this, since this is a separate issue altogether from the impeachment trial that we are conducting,” Adiong said, stressing that he was speaking as a House member, and not as spokesperson of the House prosecution panel.Counsel for the House prosecution Benjamin Tolosa Jr. also expressed trust in the ability of the presiding officer to make sure that the impeachment court will not lose sight of what should be the focus of the impeachment proceedings.“These are internal matters that we believe will be best addressed and resolved by the members of the Senate internally. We also trust that the presiding officer will make sure that we will not lose sight of the matter that should be the main focus of everyone involved in these impeachment proceedings, which is to allow the process to continue and allow the parties to present their respective evidence in a proper and efficient manner,” he said.<div>— With a report from Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News</div>

Sen. Robin Padilla rejected Monday the Office of the Ombudsman’s remark that he supposedly ignored an order to submit his counter-affidavit in response to the obstruction of justice complaint for allegedly helping Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa escape the Senate compound on May 14.

Sen. Robin Padilla rejected Monday the Office of the Ombudsman’s remark that he supposedly ignored an order to submit his counter-affidavit in response to the obstruction of justice complaint for allegedly helping Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa escape the Senate compound on May 14.

Padilla denies snubbing Ombudsman order; Tulfo says impeachment court shouldn't be used to 'defend ourselves'

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Padilla denies snubbing Ombudsman order; Tulfo says impeachment court shouldn't be used to 'defend ourselves'

Jamaine Punzalan

Published July 20, 2026 02:19 PM PHT

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Updated July 20, 2026 03:58 PM PHT

Read More:

Robin Padilla

Cayetano

Tulfo

Dela Rosa

Ombudsman

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