House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno clashed with defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer on Monday over a question he deemed 'misleading' about financial forensic analyst Alexander Cabrera’s auditing experience during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Diokno objected to Ferrer’s question, arguing that it was misleading and appeared to suggest that Cabrera lacked sufficient auditing experience.
The exchange occurred during Ferrer’s cross-examination of Cabrera, who presented financial analysis in the impeachment proceedings. Ferrer had asked whether Cabrera could still consider himself a financial audit analyst despite having only one year of external auditing experience.
Diokno asked Ferrer to repeat the question, saying he wanted to clarify whether it had misrepresented the witness’s testimony.
“Already an answer is not an excuse for the objection to be made,” Diokno said.
Ferrer, however, refused to repeat the question, arguing that Cabrera had understood and answered it.
“We believe that the witness is an intelligent witness, Your Honor, and he fully understood and, in fact, responded to the question,” Ferrer said.
Diokno maintained that the defense’s refusal to repeat the question did not prevent him from raising an objection.
“Hindi po karera ito na kapag sinagot na ng witness ay hindi na puwedeng mag-object ang abogado. That’s very clear from Section 39 of Rule 130,” Diokno said.
“I don’t know why it is so difficult for counsel to repeat her question,” he added.
Presiding Officer and Senator-Judge Francis "Chiz" Escudero asked Diokno to specify the grounds for his objection.
However, Diokno was unable to identify which part of Ferrer’s question was misleading.
Escudero then directed the defense to repeat the question, but Ferrer declined, maintaining that Cabrera had already answered it.
Escudero ultimately overruled Diokno’s objection, explaining that the defense was merely comparing Cabrera’s claims with his one year of experience in the external auditing division.
