2 senator-judges sympathize with harangued prosecutors

MANILA, Philippines—Two senators expressed sympathy for the prosecutors who had been on the receiving end of rebukes from some senator-judges, particularly Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, at the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“I’ll be very blunt about this, hindi lang sa last hearing, maski sa previous hearings … (may) excesses sa pagtrato (not only in the last hearing but even in previous hearings, there were excesses at how they were being treated),” Senator Panfilo Lacson said in an interview Monday.

“And if I can recall, I never heard (Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago) lecture the defense panel,” he added.

While he voted to cite private lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre for contempt, Lacson acknowledged that Santiago’s use of the word “gago” (fool) to describe the prosecution team was “uncalled for.”

“That’s uncalled for. Anyway, that was stricken off the record… that’s really uncalled for, in front of millions of Filipinos watching the proceedings on live TV, tapos sasalita ka ng ganoon…,” he said.

Aguirre was cited for contempt last week by the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, when he covered his ears while Santiago was lecturing the prosecutors.

The senators are expected to decide in a caucus on Tuesday the penalty to be imposed on the lawyer.

But Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV believes a “slap on the wrist” should be enough to punish Aguirre.

“A slap on the wrist would suffice,” Trillanes said in a text message, saying he would have also stood up and defended himself if he was on the receiving end of Santiago’s “scathing remarks.”

“Strictly speaking, Senator Santiago did not violate any Senate or impeachment rule in the course of her manifestations. And personally, she has been very nice to me and the other senators. But if I were on the receiving end of the scathing remarks, I would have stood up and defended myself,” the senator said.