VICE President Sara Z. Duterte’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. controls senators should be a proper test for the impeachment court’s sub judice rule, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
“Yung comments niya about the court, so that would be a good test siguro na the sub judice rule,” Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, a member of the prosecution panel, told a post-trial press briefing.
He was reacting to the vice president’s newest statement on her Senate impeachment trial.
In a video message to her supporters on Monday, Duterte said, “Marami rin ang nagsabi na nai-stress na sila sa impeachment at sa mga kasong kinakaharap ko. Gusto kong ipaabot sa inyong lahat na hindi ninyo kailangang mag-alala at huwag kayong ma-pressure.”
“Hawak man ni Marcos ang mga senador, fiscal, huwes, at mga pulis, napakaraming abogado naman ang tumutulong sa akin upang ipaglaban at mapanalo ang mga kasong ito,” she said.
Flores said prosecutors have been very careful in making statements since impeachment court Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero laid down last August 26 guidelines on strict compliance with the sub judice rule, which prohibits discussions on the merits of the impeachment case.
“If you might have noticed, sobrang careful na namin magsalita ngayon, as far as answering questions from the press is concerned. Kasi ayaw namin na ma-violate yung rules,” he said.
“But here we have the vice president saying na she doesn’t trust the court, she doesn’t trust the senators, or she doesn’t trust this and that. So sa amin naman, siguro dapat let’s be fair also in how we treat these things,” he said.
For his part, prosecution spokesman and private counsel Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the prosecution would leave the latest assertion of Duterte to the impeachment court.
“We’ll leave it to the discretion of the impeachment court if they’ll find it to be a violation of the sub judice rule. Pag titignan natin yung konteksto ng statement, she was referring to the impeachment case that she’s facing and other legal battles tapos tsaka niya sinabi na hawak ng presidente, ang mga senador, ang mga west at ang mga piskal,” he said.
“So if it would be considered as another attack against the integrity of the court, similar to how she attacked it when she said that the impeachment proceedings are being marred by bending the law. We will leave that determination to the impeachment court,” he said.
In reiterating the sub judice rule, Escudero said the prohibition against discussing the merits of the Vice President’s impeachment case covers not only prosecutors, members of the defense panel, and senator-judges but also Duterte as well.
Escudero’s ruling prescribed graduated penalties for violations, plus a referral to the Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for possible disciplinary action if the offender is a lawyer.
metrosundaily
