Escudero urges counsels Kapunan, Ferrer to temper words amid 'generational divide'

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero on Wednesday called on private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense counsel Kristine Ferrer to temper their words during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying their apparent generational gap should not fuel tension in the proceedings.

Escudero made the remark on the 15th day of Duterte's impeachment trial after Kapunan objected to Ferrer’s questioning of prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Fund Auditing Office (ICFAO).

Ferrer was challenging the COA-ICFAO findings that formed the basis for the issuance of a notice of disallowance against the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

She pressed Del Campo on whether an apprehension was necessary to establish that information provided by an informant had yielded results before a reward could be paid.

Del Campo sought to explain that the requirements for the payment of rewards and the purchase of information are different.

She cited Section 4.8.5, which provides that payments of rewards to informers “should be supported with documents evidencing the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities on account of the information given by the informer.”

It also states that the information should be “directly related to the conduct of the specific confidential activities of authorized agencies.”

Ferrer, however, pressed for a categorical "yes" or "no" response.

“Your Honor, please, can the witness be directed to answer this with yes or no? The counsel [for the prosecution] has her time to ask clarificatory questions later,” Ferrer said.

‘No freewheeling’

Kapunan objected, saying there were limits to cross-examination.

“Never mind if you're on cross. There are limits to cross-examination. Misleading questions are not allowed,” Kapunan said.

“They are allowed!” Ferrer countered.

The exchange prompted Escudero to intervene and ask both lawyers to tone down their remarks.

“Counsels, please, let's not allow the generational or seeming generational divide [to] increase the tension in the courtroom. Let's keep it a notch lower,” Escudero said, addressing both Kapunan, a veteran lawyer, and Ferrer, a younger member of Duterte’s defense team.

Kapunan appeared to play along with Escudero’s characterization, joking: “Your Honor, please, I am preventing myself from giving her a spanking. That is what I want to do in the generational divide.”

Escudero then reminded the counsels for both sides to keep their exchanges civil.

“You are all members of the bar and you are all counsels for the parties. And we will be treating and looking at each one equally,” Escudero said.

Kapunan relented, saying she promised to behave from that point forward.

Ferrer responded that she respected Kapunan and considered her an idol, but Kapunan quickly cut her off.

“Let's end here. It might sound like a eulogy, Your Honor. I'm still very much alive,” Kapunan said, drawing laughter from those in the gallery.

Ferrer then resumed her cross examination of Del Campo.

Later in the trial, Ferrer appealed to the court to caution Kapunan against making what she considered unflattering remarks about her, particularly Kapunan’s earlier comment that she was restraining herself from giving Ferrer “a spanking.”

“I would like to ask this court to not allow side comments like ‘I was about to spank her,’ mga ‘I was about to lecture her’… those comments,” Ferrer said.

“Maybe she has more years of experience. She has 48 years, I have 15. We should learn to respect each other and refrain from making side comments. And that was captured by the media. That is our request, Your Honor, to just remind the counsel not to make those kinds of remarks,” Ferrer added.

Escudero noted that Kapunan had already relented earlier, while Kapunan reiterated her commitment to tone down her remarks.

“Yes, Your Honor. In fact, I hope this also forms part of the record that I promised to behave,” Kapunan said. — MCG, GMA News