Some Senator-judges lawyering for Duterte? Give them benefit of the doubt, says Chua

House prosecutor Joel Chua on Saturday remains hopeful senator-judges will stick to their oath on political neutrality in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Ako po, hanggang sa ngayon, naniniwala ako na sila ay bound sa kanilang sinumpaang tungkulin na mag-eexercise sila ng political neutrality," Chua said at the Saturday News Forum.

(Me, until now, I still believe that they are bound by their sworn duty to exercise political neutrality.)

"So baka mamaya, magulat tayo, pagdating sa tanungan, ganito sila, pero sa botohan, iba boto nila. Tingnan din po natin, baka mamaya premature na sila ay husgahan. Let us give them the benefit of the doubt,” Chua added.

(Maybe we'll be surprised later; even if their questions are like that, they may vote differently. Let us see, it may be premature to judge them. Let us give them the benefit of the doubt.)

Asked whether the prosecution would ask these judges to inhibit, Chua said they would still have to see.

Several of the Duterte-allied senators have been accused of failing to be impartial.

One of the senators being criticized is Sen. Pia Cayetano, who faces an ethics case after sharing a spliced video of House prosecutor Chel Diokno.

The case, filed by women’s group EveryWoman, will be taken up by the Senate Ethics Committee on August 6.

“We believe the Senate Ethics Committee should probe Cayetano’s posting of the spliced video during an impeachment trial process. We believe it is not proper conduct, especially of a senator-judge serving in an ongoing impeachment trial,” Juanna Caumeran of EveryWoman said.

According to the complainants, Cayetano's actions violated the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) and breached the constitutional oath of senator-judges to render "impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws of the Philippines.” —VAL, GMA News