Should Sara Duterte be admonished for barbed remarks outside impeachment court? - Rappler

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ARRAIGNED. Vice President Sara Duterte arrives at the Quezon City RTC on September 11, 2026, to attend arraignment proceedings for her grave threats case.

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Two prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte have been flagged by the court for making public remarks that potentially touched on the merits of the case.

One of them, lawyer Jay Tolosa, has been admonished by the court. But he believes senator-judges should also look in the opposite direction: What about the Vice President and her remarks?

Tolosa was ready to make his sub judice argument against the country’s second-highest official on Tuesday, September 29, after disclosing the court’s admonition against him.

“The prosecution would request that considering this somewhat strict application of the rules, that the same strict application be also applied with respect to the statement of the Vice President and her spokesperson, which to our mind is more damaging,” Tolosa told a press conference.

Aside from Tolosa, prosecutor Terry Ridon had also been asked to explain his past statements flagged by the court, but his response to the show-cause order eventually prompted the court to just issue a stern warning against him, escaping a sanction.

Impeachment court spokesperson Reggie Tongol said on Monday, September 28, that aggrieved parties should raise their concerns in open court.

Tolosa said on Tuesday that he disagreed with the court decision to admonish him, but would respect its authority.

But really, what harm is there in putting Duterte’s sharply worded public remarks before the court, if only to put on record how the senator-judges view them? Is there really a double standard? – Rappler.com