LOOK: Lawyers Lorna Kapunan, Kristine Ferrer share a hug on day 16 of impeachment trial

Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense counsel Kristine Ferrer were seemingly warming up to each other after a tense exchange during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte last week.

Before the trial resumed on Monday, August 17, Kapunan was seen going to the side of the defense panel and approached Ferrer.

The two lawyers then hugged each other, with Ferrer seen all smiles.

Kapunan also hugged defense team spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa.

In an ambush interview, Kapunan said she advised Ferrer not to check social media because the posts there could be hurtful.

“She called me ‘mommy.’ I said, don’t look at social media kasi sometimes it’s very hurting. Sabi niya naman sa’kin, she said, ‘We’re good, we’re good,’” the veteran lawyer said.

Ferrer, on the other hand, confirmed that she and Kapunan are on good terms.

“Actually, we’re okay ni Atty. Lorna. She’s like a mother,” Ferrer said in a separate ambush interview.

During the impeachment trial last Wednesday, August 12, 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. — RSJ, GMA News