Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero and House prosecutor Chel Diokno reminded Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s chief defense counsel to follow court procedure after she directly questioned the prosecution during the first day of trial on July 6.
Defense lawyer Sheila Sison drew the reminder while opposing the prosecution’s move to have the four Articles of Impeachment read and to require Duterte to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
The exchange began after lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro presented the prosecution’s position. Sison then asked whether the prosecution was proposing that Duterte be arraigned.
As both sides began speaking at the same time, Escudero repeatedly banged his gavel and stopped the exchange.
“Let this not be a debate between the counsels,” Escudero said.
Addressing Sison directly, he added: “Counsel for respondent, kindly make your comments and avoid asking questions from the counsel of the prosecution.”
Escudero reminded both camps that all remarks should be directed to the chair, not to opposing counsel.
He instructed the prosecution and defense to “address the chair with respect to anything and everything they want or wish to say and not to address each other.”
Later in the proceedings, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno, one of the House prosecutors, also called out Sison after she asked whether the prosecution was ready to present its first witness on the first day of trial.
Addressing Escudero, Diokno said, “I noticed that your honor has already directed the counsel for the defense not to profound questions to the prosecution.”
“This is already the second time she has done that. She appears to be assuming or arrogating the powers of the court, because I understand that under the rules, it is only the court that can profound questions to the counsels,” Diokno said.
Sison responded that her question was addressed to the presiding officer.
Escudero noted the remarks of both sides and told Sison that the impeachment court “will get to that” later, referring to the presentation of witnesses.
Luistro defended the prosecution’s proposal to read each of the four Articles of Impeachment and require Duterte to enter a plea, saying it “is very much consistent with the Senate rules on impeachment.”
She said the reading of the articles would ensure that the respondent is fully informed of the accusations before entering a plea.
“Sa pagbasa po ng articles of impeachment, she will be informed of the accusations against her bago pa po siya sumagot whether she’s guilty or not guilty,” Luistro said.
“There is a possibility that the plea of the respondent to each and every article of impeachment will be different from one another,” she added.