MANILA – The Office of the Ombudsman said it has no record of a counter affidavit filed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla in connection with the obstruction of justice complaint stemming from the escape of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa from the Senate in May.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the anti-graft body’s records do not show that Padilla submitted the document, despite the senator’s claim that he had already filed it.

“Meron syang pinakita na isang counter affidavit, original pa po daw bagamat di po ito nag rereflect sa aming sistema (He showed the supposed original counter affidavit but it does not reflect on our record system),” Clavano said in a media interview.

Clavano also said the period for filing a counter affidavit had already expired.

“So, we will rely on what our system says and we will take it from there,” he said.

During the ongoing Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, Padilla denied reports from the Ombudsman that he failed to submit a counter affidavit.

Clavano said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano is the only senator whose counter affidavit appears in the Ombudsman’s records.

“As of now, only Senator (Alan Peter) Cayetano’s counter affidavit reflects in our system,” Clavano said.

He added that dismissed Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca had also submitted a counter affidavit and requested additional time to respond to the charges.

The obstruction of justice complaint is related to the escape of Dela Rosa from the Senate in May.

Clavano also noted that the Ombudsman issued a decision on June 25 dismissing Aplasca following the May 13 shooting incident involving personnel from the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation at the Senate building in Pasay City.PNA