House prosecutors to heed ruling on impeachment public engagements

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson for the House prosecution panel, on Sunday said the prosecutors will comply with any directives the Senate impeachment court may issue regarding public engagements.

"Whatever directive the Senate impeachment court may issue tomorrow regarding interviews involving both the prosecution and defense, we will comply and adjust accordingly," Adiong told Super Radyo dzBB.

On Wednesday, presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said he was "drafting a ruling, warning, and order" regarding a pattern observed by the clerk of court in which social media posts by lawyers representing “one side have crossed the line many, many times.”

This came after Duterte’s defense team criticized a social media post by private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan, who commented on the use of misleading questions during the impeachment trial.

Ligutan’s Facebook post read: “A principle all lawyers and law students know by heart: Misleading questions are not allowed even on cross-examination.”

The post followed a courtroom exchange between private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense attorney Kristine Ferrer, during which the latter appeared to claim that misleading questions were permissible during cross-examination.

The prosecution argued that even before the defense complaint, the integrity of the court had already been called into question by earlier incidents, specifically a statement made by Vice President Sara Duterte and a spliced video uploaded online.

For Adiong, anyone who compromises the integrity of the Senate impeachment court should be reprimanded.

"Whatever side they may be on, if someone says or does something that violates the rules of the Senate impeachment court, they should be called out, especially when it comes to upholding the integrity of the court," Adiong said.

'The approach to maintaining the integrity of the impeachment court should not be selective," he added. — MCG, GMA News