Senate impeachment court rules to refer to VP Sara as respondent-accused

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The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday ruled to refer to Vice President Sara Duterte as "respondent-accused" after the House prosecution sought clarification on how she should be referred to in the impeachment trial.

House prosecutor Chel Diokno sought to clarify the proper term when referring to the vice president after the defense referred to Duterte as "accused."

"We have referred to the vice president as the respondent. But I was surprised yesterday morning when the counsel for respondent introduced herself as counsel for the accused. We all know that this is not a criminal proceeding, this is a sui generis proceeding. We do not want to condition the mind of anyone that this case is criminal in nature," Diokno said.

"Therefore, may I seek clarification from the honorable court, how should we address the Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte?" he added.

He also requested to strike the statement from records wherein the defense counsel introduced herself as counsel for the "accused."

However, defense lead counsel Sheil Sison said that they referred to their client as "respondent-accused," noting that the articles of impeachment are criminal in nature.

"The counsel for the respondent did not refer to the respondent as 'accused' by itself, but as 'respondent-accused'... Even though the prosecution feels that this is not a criminal action per se, the articles of impeachment will show that the charges are criminal in nature," said Sison.

Diokno, on the other hand, argued that there's no criminal liability involved.

"There's no criminal liability involved in this case. This is a case involving the fitness of the vice president to continue in office. It's sui generis, it may lead to misconceptions if the respondents counsel were to refer to the vice president as the accused," he said.

Sison responded: "In fact, we are consistent in referring to the vice president as respondent-accused. If the worry of the gentleman is a supposed misconception on the use of the term accused in conjunction with respondent-accused."

"I think there is no greater danger than a misconception in the idea that the constitutional presumption of innocence does not apply in this impeachment proceeding. Or the Bill of Rights, under which, that guarantee is embedded does not apply to this impeachment case, your honor," she added.

Escudero later ruled that, in fact, Sison was right that they have referred to Duterte as "respondent-accused" in the previous proceedings based on records. Hence, the court ruled against Diokno's request.

"The chair has checked the TSN, Atty. Sheila is correct, she said 'respondent-accused'... Secondly, given that it's suis generis admittedly, given that the very first ruling on impeachment...referred to impeachment processes as criminal in nature...The chair, therefore, rules against the motion of the honorable Diokno, member of the panel of prosecutors," said Escudero. —VAL, GMA News