Private prosecutor and spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said he received an “admonition” from the Impeachment Court telling him to exercise greater restraint in his public statements about Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
But Tolosa said that based on his reading of the order, there was no express finding that he violated the sub judice rule that bars comment on the merits of the case.
He said there was no discussion of whether his statements fell under the fair and true and accurate reporting doctrine, and no statement that contradicted his defense.
“Nonetheless, even if there’s no express statement that I violated the rule, there’s, at the end, an admonition to exercise greater restraint in giving public statements that may affect the merits of the case,” he said.
Because of this, Tolosa said he respectfully disagrees with the court’s admonition, though he respects the court’s authority and will not belabor the issue.
“With all due respect, I do not agree. I respectfully disagree, with respect to that admonition, because I stated, there is no finding that I violated the rule. Nonetheless, while I respectfully disagree, of course, I respect the authority of the impeachment court as an institution,” he said.
He said he would respect the admonition and would be more careful in his statements moving forward.
He said he does not want this matter to be a distraction.
But Tolosa also said the prosecution would like to request that the strict application of the rules also be applied to statements of Duterte and her spokesperson.
He said Duterte’s statements are more damaging, given that the prosecution did not attack the integrity of the court.
“We’ve heard them again and again attacking the integrity of the court by saying the President controls the senators in the context of the present impeachment proceedings, by saying this is just a sarsuela, saying nagkakalokohan na lang at minamanipula ng mga senador,” he said.
Such statements are very concerning because they may have the effect of manipulating the public, he added.