Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro on Thursday said misleading questions are not allowed during cross-examination, calling it a 'basic' rule for lawyers.
Castro made the remark after a heated exchange between House private prosecutor Atty. Lorna Kapunan and defense counsel Atty. Kristine Ferrer during the 15th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, August 12.
“As a lawyer, basic. This is so basic. Misleading questions are not allowed, especially during cross-examination,” Castro said during a Palace press briefing.
“Kasi if you will ask misleading questions and you will just demand an answer—na yes or no, nothing more, nothing less—it will definitely give also a wrong answer,” Castro said.
“Sanay na sanay na nga tayo sa fake news, pati ba naman sa hearing, magkakaroon pa ng fake news? Para mong niloloko ‘yung witness mo at pinipilit mong sumagot ng oo o hindi,” she added.
The issue arose during the cross-examination of Commission on Audit (COA) auditor Xylene del Campo, when the defense questioned how she responded to questions from the prosecution.
Ferrer insisted that Del Campo should answer the questions with “yes” or “no,” a position that Kapunan disputed.
Kapunan said not all questions could be answered with a simple yes or no and maintained that misleading questions were not allowed during cross-examination. Ferrer, however, argued that such questions were allowed.
Lead defense counsel Atty. Sheila Sison later clarified that Ferrer was referring to leading questions, which may be asked during cross-examination.
The heated exchange prompted impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero to urge Kapunan and Ferrer to cool down and not allow their apparent generational differences to create tension during the proceedings.
Castro said she would rather not judge the lawyers’ styles out of respect for them.
However, she said Ferrer should have immediately corrected her statement if she believed it had been misunderstood.
“Alam mo sa isang lawyer, dapat matalas ang tenga mo. Isang mali mo lang talaga diyan, talagang mare-retain sa’yo ‘yan,” Castro said.
“Again, I don’t want to judge any comment made by the lawyers, pero mas mainam kung marami nang nag-react… right then and there, sana kinorrect na niya. Siya na mismo ang nag-correct,” she added.
