THE Senate impeachment court has set punitive measures against senator-judges, as well as counsels for both the prosecution and defense, who publicly discuss the merits of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a ruling issued on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero reiterated Article 18 of the Rules on Impeachment, which provides that “the presiding officer, the members of the Senate, shall refrain from making any comments and disclosures in public pertaining to the merits of a pending impeachment trial.”
He said the same rule applies to the prosecutors, the impeached person, their respective counsels, and witnesses.
“This rule exists to balance the public’s right to information on matters of public concern with the need to protect the integrity of the proceedings from public prejudgment,” Escudero said.
“The chair hereby strictly enjoins all persons covered by Rule 18, you know who you are and based on the records, we know who you are, from making public statements or otherwise discussing, sharing or endorsing comments pertaining to the merits of this pending impeachment trial and from engaging in trial by publicity as they directly threaten the independence of the Court, degrade the dignity of the tribunal and risk turning it into a circus and weaponize the media to substitute public outrage for actual evidence,” he said.
Escudero added that the court will impose a two-strike rule. On the first offense, the concerned offender will receive a severe public reprimand and stern admonition in open court.
He said the matter will be permanently placed on record as a final warning.
“The offending lawyer or party may also be subjected to a defined prospective restriction on speaking, objecting, or examining witnesses on the floor,” the presiding officer said.
Escudero said each subsequent violation of the rule shall be punished in the same manner, with a fine of P30,000 for the second offense.
“Each subsequent violation of Rule 18 shall be punished the same way as a second offense, third, fourth, so on, with a fine of P30,000,” he added.
Escudero said that if the offender is a member of the Bar, or a lawyer, the certified incident record will be transmitted and a formal referral will be made to the Office of the Bar Confidant, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and/or the Supreme Court of the Philippines for possible disciplinary sanctions regarding the person’s license to practice law.
Escudero clarified that only statements made from August 26, 2026, when the ruling was issued, onward will be covered.
The court issued the ruling following the August 12 manifestation of Duterte’s lead counsel, Sheila Sison, against a social media post by House prosecution counsel Amando Ligutan after an argument between private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense counsel Kristine Ferrer over limitations during cross-examination, specifically on the asking of misleading questions.
In his explanation before the court, Ligutan said that, aside from being a lawyer, he is also an educator and that his teacher’s “instinct” kicked in during the incident.
He maintained that misleading questions are not allowed even on cross-examination.
“Ang pagtatama ng mali ay kailanman hindi ipinagbabawal kahit sa loob ng impeachment court ito (To correct a mistake is never prohibited even if inside the impeachment court),” Ligutan said.
Escudero raised the possibility of a misunderstanding over the matter.
“The TSN (transcript) says attorney Kapunan (said) leading and then she corrected herself (saying) misleading questions are not allowed on cross. Atty. Ferrer said they are allowed. Now, the TSN cannot possibly cover the overlapping voices, if at all. So most likely, Atty. Ferrer was commenting on the earlier statement that was corrected later on by Atty. Kapunan, changing leading to misleading. Perhaps attorney Ferrer was referring to leading questions and not misleading questions,” Escudero said. (TPM/VoxPop Philippines)