Raffy Tulfo, court spox Regie Tongol patch things up after verdict date issue

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Senator-Judge Raffy Tulfo and impeachment court spokesperson and lawyer Regie Tongol have cleared the air after tensions rose when the latter said that the verdict in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte could be out by December 16.

In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, Tulfo said that Tongol paid a courtesy visit to his office to clarify his earlier statement regarding the impeachment verdict date.

This came a day after Tulfo asked the Senate impeachment court to admonish its spokesperson for telling the media that the impeachment trial verdict may already be released by December 16.

Tongol had explained that the December 16 schedule he mentioned should not be seen as a deadline for the impeachment court to issue a verdict on the case of the Vice President. He said that date was only based on administrative plotting or logistical projection hinged on the pre-trial order calendar.

“Pinayuhan siya ni Sen. Raffy na maging mas maingat sa mga pahayag sa media sa mga susunod na pagkakataon at ugaliing kumonsulta muna sa mga senator-judges bago maglabas ng anumang opisyal na pahayag, na kanya namang sinang-ayunan,” the caption in Tulfo’s Facebook post read.

(Sen. Raffy advised him to be more cautious with his statements to the media in the future and to make it a habit to consult the senator-judges first before issuing any official statement, to which Tongol agreed.)

In a press conference after the trial on Tuesday, Tongol described his meeting with Tulfo as “very cordial,” saying that he has high respect for all senator-judges, whom he considers as his “bosses.”

“Syempre po [Of course] we recognize their authority, supervision, and control over our actions. Kaya ‘yun lamang po, we just cleared the air and then also, I thanked him for his clarification and his guidance. At ‘yun po, mabilis lamang po at binigyan niya rin po ako ng [It was quick and he gave me] instructions on how to better do things next time,” he said.

“It’s my privilege na ma-Tulfo po [to get Tulfo'd],” Tongol added.

“Ipa-Tulfo” is a famous Filipino phrase which means reporting someone or bringing a complaint to the public service program hosted by Raffy Tulfo. — BM, GMA News