House enlists 10 private lawyers for impeach trial

MANILA, Philippines —  The prosecution team of the House of Representatives has named 10 lawyers from prominent private law firms to assist pro bono in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

House prosecutors Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro and Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno announced the names of private prosecutors, including Marforth Fua, a former assistant presidential legal counsel of President Marcos, and veteran lawyer Lorna Kapunan.

Fua is one of the private prosecutors that hails from PECABAR Law, the firm founded by the late presidential legal adviser Juan Ponce Enrile. Fua will be joined by lawyers James Bryan Ibrahim Alih, Erwin Matib and Justine Anne Lamarca.

The law firm was formerly known as Ponce Enrile Cayetano Bautista & Reyes and was founded in 1983 by Enrile and Rene Cayetano, who both became senators.

Kapunan also brought lawyers from her own firm Kapunan and Castillo. They are Sonya Margarita Benemerito-Castillo, Deanna Melissa Lorenzo-Singian, Lino Chris Kapunan and Bettina Zamora.

“To us, it’s just like any other legal work that we have handled and we are handling, so it’s nothing personal. We’re given a job, we’re given an objective, so we’ll just fulfill our objective, like in other case we have handled or we’re handling for our clients,” Fua, who placed eighth in the 2007 Bar Examinations, said at a press briefing.

Kapunan admitted that taking on the task of assisting in the impeachment trial would come with risks, especially being the target of disinformation. But what matters, she said, is that they can help the public prosecutors present a strong case.

“I go to this impeachment trial with a clear conscience. It does not matter if we are hit personally. What matters here is that we will be useful in supporting or aiding our public prosecutors in presenting a strong, fair, and evidence-based case,” she said.

For Cebu-based lawyer Armando Ligutan, the risk involved in prosecuting the second highest government official of the country “is nothing compared to the honor” of doing public service.

“Knowing that we are on the right side of history makes all the hardship, all of the difficulties worth it. It’s nothing compared to the honor of making sure that those who must be held accountable should be held accountable no matter the case that you are the Vice President,” he said.

Luistro said all members of the private prosecutors agreed to serve without compensation because they believe in the constitutional duty to hold public officials accountable.

“They believe in the mandate of transparency and accountability. They support the mandate of the Constitution, and that is the ultimate and sole reason why they are joining the public prosecutors in this impeachment trial,” she said.

Luistro said this first batch of private prosecutors is expected to formally enter its appearance before the Senate impeachment court on June 15 as the proceedings gear toward the pre-trial phase.

Luistro urged law enforcement agencies to ensure the security of the Senate premises, prosecutors, witnesses, personnel, and evidence ahead of the June 18 pre-trial conference in the impeachment case.