Vice President Sara Duterte could end up unwittingly defaulting or waiving her defense in her upcoming Senate impeachment trial if she sticks to her current strategy.

House prosecution panel spokesman Antonio Bucoy floated this scenario on Tuesday afternoon, June 24, or a day after the Duterte camp submitted its answer ad cautelam to the Senate impeachment court.

This was in response to the court's order for the impeached Duterte to answer the articles of impeachment lodged by the House of Representatives.

Through the answer ad cautelam, Duterte has asked the Senate impeachment court to dismiss the impeachment complaint via technicality. But Bucoy pointed out that the Vice President's side has yet to even recognize the jurisdiction of the court.

Humihingi ka ng relief from the court, humihingi ka ng desisyon from the court, pero hindi mo naman kinikilala yung kapangyarihan eh (You're asking the court for relief, you're asking the court for a decision, and yet you don't recognize its power). You have yet to submit to the authority of the court, Bucoy said.

Ibabalik ko ho dun sa kanilang entry of appearance. Dapat sabihin nila kung bakit sila ad cautelam, bakit sila may caution sa hurisdiksyon. Yun yung ad cautelam eh, 'for caution' (I'll go back to their entry of appearance. They must explain their ad cautelam, why they're airing caution on the jurisdiction. That's the ad cautelam, it means 'for caution'), explained the lawyer-spokesman.

Bucoy said this could lead to a serious repercussion on the lady official's impeachment case.

Ano po ang repercussion niyan? Maaaring sabihin ng impeachment court na 'Kilalanin niyo muna yung aming kapangyarihan, submit to our jurisdiction.' Or maaring sabihin ng [impeachment] court, 'Ayaw niyong kilalanin, you are in default,' he said.

(What's the repercussion of that? The impeachment court could say, 'Recognize our power first, submit to our jurisdiction. Or the impeachment court could say, 'You refuse to recognize us, then you are in default.')

Pag in default po, you waive your defenses. Yan lang po ang pwedeng puntahan (If you are in default, you waive your defenses. That's the only possibility), Bucoy explained.

Kung mag-enter ka ng appearance at magfa-file ka ng answer, make it categorical. Kung kine-kwestyon mo ang kapangyarihan, sabihin mo kung bakit (If you're going to enter an appearance and file an answer, make it categorical. If you're questioning the court's power, tjen explain the reason why), the seasoned litigator added.

At any rate, Bucoy expressed confidence that the senator-judges would render the right decision on the impeachment case.

We trust that the impeachment court would do the right thing and perform their constitutional duty to try and decide this case, he said.

As for Duterte, Bucoy said: The Vice President that pays the price for the consequence.