Eight weeks into the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, the Senate impeachment court has rediscovered a useful legal principle. People involved in a trial should probably stop trying the case everywhere except the courtroom.
Presiding Officer Senator Francis Escudero’s ruling on sub judice statements is welcome, overdue, and a little embarrassing in what it quietly admits. The Senate has effectively wiped the slate clean, allowing previous utterances to pass before drawing a firmer line around what participants can publicly say about the merits of the case.
In other words, the rule was there. The court simply took its time remembering to enforce it.
Still, better late than never.
The clarification is important because Rule XVIII applies not only to senator-judges and lawyers on both sides, but also to the accused. Vice President Duterte is covered. So are those prosecuting and defending her. A trial cannot preserve impartiality if its participants spend their recesses conducting parallel proceedings before microphones, cameras, and social media.
The timing could hardly have been more theatrical. Duterte issued a statement criticizing the prosecution’s conduct even as Escudero was delivering his reminders on impartiality and decorum. The presiding officer invoked prospectivity, meaning the newly clarified enforcement would govern future violations rather than punish what had already been said.
Fair enough. But eight weeks is a long time to let the courtroom culture drift.
Too often, the proceedings have produced moments when lawyers appeared more interested in winning the evening’s headlines than the legal argument, while some senator-judges seemed unable to resist reminding the public that their political instincts remained fully operational.
This is an impeachment court, not an audition for prime-time television.
Escudero was right to remind the prosecution that its duty is justice, not conviction at any cost. The defense, likewise, must provide competent representation, not pursue acquittal as if the verdict were a campaign slogan. Senator-judges must judge, not grandstand.
Hopefully, the Senate’s belated reset means more orderly hearings, more evidence, and fewer performances.
The Constitution gave the Senate a court.
The country should not have to keep reminding it to act like one.
