Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong —Photo courtesy of congress.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutors on Thursday renewed their challenge to the Senate impeachment court to apply its sub judice rule to Vice President Sara Duterte as well, saying her recent claim that she did not trust the court and her accusation that senator-judges were being influenced by Malacañang should be called out.
The call came as they confirmed that two of their members had received show-cause orders from the impeachment court for allegedly violating the same rule by making public comments touching on the merits of Duterte’s impeachment case.
“If we’re really to set the standard for all parties involved in this impeachment trial to observe with due diligence avoiding violating the sub judice, it should be applied to the respondent herself,” said Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, a prosecution spokesperson.
“Those kinds of statements should be called out by the [impeachment] court,” he said.
Adiong was referring to Duterte’s recent remarks questioning the integrity of the impeachment court, including her statement that she did not trust the court and her allegation that the senators sitting in the impeachment court were being influenced or controlled by Malacañang.
Two-strike rule
The sub judice rule bars the prosecution and defense teams, their witnesses, the respondent and senator-judges from publicly commenting on the merits of a pending impeachment case.
The prosecution made the same challenge to the court after it issued a show-cause order for private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan in connection with his Facebook post following an Aug. 12 courtroom exchange over leading and misleading questions.
That incident triggered the issuance of the two-strike rule for violations of the sub judice rule under Rule 18 of the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trial.
Under the court’s guidelines, a first violation carries a severe reprimand and stern admonition in open court.
A second offense carries a maximum P30,000 fine per violation, with an offending lawyer or party also potentially facing restrictions on speaking, objecting or examining witnesses on the floor. Each subsequent violation will be punished in the same manner as a second offense.
The show-cause orders are the first known disciplinary action by the impeachment court against members of the House prosecution panel since presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero issued the stricter enforcement guidelines on Aug. 26.
The prosecution members were given 24 hours to explain why they should not be cited for violating the sub judice rule.
Three incidents
Impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said the orders stemmed from three incidents involving public interviews—one on Sept. 8 and two others on Sept. 14 and 15.
“One was a private counsel for the House prosecution panel, while the other one with two possible violations is a lawmaker belonging to the same group,” Tongol said.
Adiong identified Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon as one of the recipients. He and House prosecutor Joel Chua, however, could not confirm the identity of the second recipient because they had yet to personally see the order.
“We are currently reviewing the details and contents of that show-cause order; we haven’t seen it yet, nor have we discussed what course of action the prosecution panel will take,” Adiong said.
Escudero announced the issuance of the show-cause orders before the trial adjourned on Wednesday, citing his Aug. 26 directive for the strict enforcement of the sub judice rule.
Adiong said the statements made by the two prosecutors, based on what the panel knew, dealt with matters already taken up in the impeachment proceedings and did not go beyond the issues discussed in court.
Asked whether the impeachment court was giving Duterte special treatment, Adiong said the sub judice rule “should be applied universally,” while stressing that it was up to the court to decide what action to take.