Should Sara Duterte be admonished for barbed remarks outside impeachment court?

ARRAIGNED. Vice President Sara Duterte arrives at the Quezon City RTC on September 11, 2026, to attend arraignment proceedings for her grave threats case.

Jire Carreon/Rappler

After being admonished by the impeachment court, prosecutor Jay Tolosa asks senator-judges to look at Vice President Sara Duterte too: Why is she getting away with her own biting comments?

AT A GLANCE

• Two prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte have been admonished by the court for making public remarks related to the case.
• Prosecutor Jay Tolosa argues that the same scrutiny should apply to Duterte's public statements, which he believes are more damaging.
• Tolosa highlighted several of Duterte's remarks that he claims could influence the trial, while another prosecutor, Terry Ridon, received a warning for his statements.

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Two prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte have been flagged by the court for making public remarks that potentially touched on the merits of the case.

One of them, lawyer Jay Tolosa, has been admonished by the court. But he believes senator-judges should also look in the opposite direction: What about the Vice President and her remarks?

Tolosa was ready to make his sub judice argument against the country’s second-highest official on Tuesday, September 29, after disclosing the court’s admonition against him.

“The prosecution would request that considering this somewhat strict application of the rules, that the same strict application be also applied with respect to the statement of the Vice President and her spokesperson, which to our mind is more damaging,” Tolosa told a press conference.

Tolosa flagged the following remarks by Duterte and her team:

• On September 7, Duterte said: “Many have also said that they are stressed out by the impeachment and the cases I am facing. I want to convey to all of you that you do not need to worry and do not be pressured… Even though Marcos controls the senators, prosecutors, judges and police, there are so many lawyers who are helping me fight and win these cases.”
• On September 23, Duterte’s spokesperson Paolo Panelo said of senator-judges in an ambush interview: “Gusto nilang i-manipulate ang voting threshold para makuha ang conviction (They want to manipulate the voting threshold to secure a conviction.”
• On September 25, when asked in an interview whether she would attend her trial, she said: “Anong ibig sabihin, ma’am? Manood ako doon sa kanilang zarzuela? (What does that mean? Why would I watch their staged drama?)”

Aside from Tolosa, prosecutor Terry Ridon had also been asked to explain his past statements flagged by the court, but his response to the show-cause order eventually prompted the court to just issue a stern warning against him, escaping a sanction.

Impeachment court spokesperson Reggie Tongol said on Monday, September 28, that aggrieved parties should raise their concerns in open court.

Tolosa said on Tuesday that he disagreed with the court decision to admonish him, but would respect its authority.

But really, what harm is there in putting Duterte’s sharply worded public remarks before the court, if only to put on record how the senator-judges view them? Is there really a double standard? – Rappler.com