Members of the House prosecution panel are urging the Senate Impeachment Court to apply the sub judice rule impartially, arguing that public statements made by the respondent, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, directly undermine the integrity of the ongoing proceedings.
The call for equal enforcement came after prosecution counsel Atty. Benjamin Tolosa Jr. and House prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon were issued a show-cause order by the tribunal.
Addressing the show-cause directive, Tolosa confirmed that he has submitted his formal explanation, maintaining that his post-trial press briefings were strictly limited to summarizing public witness testimony and did not violate any gag rules.
“We’re hoping kapag nakita iyong answer natin, explanation natin, at tiningnan iyong buong konteksto ng mga statements natin, makikita sana na wala namang naging paglabag at lahat ng mga statements natin were all made in a good faith,” Tolosa said.
Tolosa asserted that the vice president’s own public commentary represents a far more severe transgression of the sub judice restriction, characterizing her remarks as direct assaults on the trial court and the senator-judges.
“Narinig naman natin noon ang sinabi mismo ng bise presidente, sabi niya the impeachment proceedings ay marred by bending the law, ibig sabihin binabaluktot ang batas,” Tolosa said, referencing prior comments made by Duterte.
Although Senate President Francis Escudero, acting as the trial’s presiding officer, previously declared a clean slate that effectively dismissed earlier potential breaches, Tolosa noted that Duterte quickly issued subsequent public statements targeting the judicial process. Among these was an official remark asserting that “hawak ni Marcos ang mga senador, ang mga huwes, at mga piskal.”
“Sa amin napakaliwanag niyan that that’s an attack against the integrity of the impeachment court, to say that the president is controlling the senators, of course, these are the same senator judges,” Tolosa said.
He warned that such allegations pose a serious threat to public trust in the trial’s outcome.
“So, iyan ho ang para sa amin na mas delikado dahil ito nga, this could give the impression doon sa mga tao na naniniwala sa kanya at will take those statements as fact, na iisipin nila kung ano man ang magiging desisyon ng mga senator-judges dito, lalo na kung hindi paborable sa bise presidente, iisipin nila hindi iyan dahil sa ebidensya na linatag ng mga parties, ito lamang ay dahil nga sa sinasabi niyang na kokontrolado ng presidente ang mga senador,” he added.
Reiterating that the vice president’s rhetoric was deeply unfair and “must not be tolerated,” Tolosa stressed that the prosecution is not asking for preferential treatment, but simply a consistent standard for all participants.
“Ang hinihingi lang namin sa prosekusyon, mayroon lang isang rule dito; there is one rule governing the proceedings, and this rule should be applied evenly to all persons covered by it,” Tolosa said.
“Dahil alam naman natin kapag ang mga rules, if these are applied without fairness, na-weaken yung mga tribunals. Pero kapag naman yung mga makikita na rules are applied evenly, na-strengthen naman yung tribunal,” he added.