Who are lawyers Lorna Kapunan and Kristine Ferrer?

Lawyers Lorna Patajo-Kapunan and Kristine Ferrer made headlines in the past few days over their exchanges in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, specifically in tackling the alleged misuse of confidential funds.

The female lawyers are sitting on opposite sides of the impeachment court---Kapunan being with the House prosecution panel, and Ferrer being one of the counsels for the Vice President’s defense team. \

Lorna Kapunan

Kapunan, the founder and a senior partner at the Kapunan and Castillo Law Offices, is a seasoned litigation lawyer, known for handling several high-profile cases.

She took her political science and law degrees from the University of the Philippines in 1973 and 1978, respectively, and was admitted to the Bar in 1979. She also attended a summer course in International Humanitarian Law at Magdalene College in Cambridge University in 2010.

She is the daughter of retired Supreme Court Justice Lino Patajo and Cristeta Taaca Patajo, first dean of the Manila Doctors Hospital College of Nursing. She is also the widow of former regional trial court Judge Eduardo Roden Kapunan and mother to five sons.

Aside from litigation and international humanitarian law, Kapunan’s legal expertise includes licensing, corporate and commercial law, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, criminal law, family law, and estate law and succession.

She was a recipient of the Philippine Choice Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Service and Asia’s Legacy of Justice and Legal Excellence Award in 2025; was recognized as among the Top 100 Lawyers of the Country for three consecutive years in 2019 to 2021; and is an awardee of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) in 1995 in the field of corporate law.

Kristine Ferrer

Kristine Ferrer is a partner at the Fortun, Narvasa & Salazar law firm and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and her Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo de Davao University, and was admitted to the Bar in 2011. She also has a Certification in Negotiation Mastery from Harvard Business School Online.

Ferrer was also named one of the 10 Most Successful Leaders to Follow in Asia in 2023 by Tycoon Success Magazine and one of the Top 10 Consulting Company Leaders from the Philippines by CEO Insights Asia, also in the same year.

Her practice areas include arbitration, corporate and commercial practice, corporate rehabilitation, litigation and dispute resolution, and taxation.

During the impeachment trial on Wednesday, Ferrer and Kapunan exchanged words regarding the limitations on cross-examination, particularly when it comes to asking misleading questions.

“Never mind if you're on cross. There are limits to cross-examination. Misleading questions are not allowed,” Kapunan said during the cross-examination of prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Fund Auditing Office (ICFAO).

“They are allowed,” Ferrer countered.

This prompted Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero to intervene and ask both lawyers to temper their words, saying their apparent generational gap should not fuel tension in the proceedings.

Sheila Sison, lead counsel for the defense team, later defended Ferrer as she took exception to a social media post made by private prosecutor Armando Ligutan regarding misleading questions while the impeachment trial was ongoing.

Ligutan, in response, said that his intentions were not malicious. —LDF, GMA News