00:01A teacher, a lawyer, a rule on cross-examination, a Facebook post, how did we get here?
00:16Last August 12, before trial was adjourned, it was a Wednesday, out of the blue, the defense
00:25made a manifestation, or should I say, a big issue of my Facebook post earlier that morning.
00:38My post reads, a principle all lawyers and law students know by heart.
00:46However, misleading questions are not allowed, even on cross-examination, period.
01:00The defense surmised it is a reaction to that viral exchange between the opposing counsel
01:08that morning.
01:10A lawyer for the defense said, in effect, that misleading questions are allowed.
01:19We all heard it.
01:22It immediately caused an uproar on social media, especially in the legal community where it
01:30is a well-entrenched rule that misleading questions are not allowed, even on cross-examination.
01:40It is a truism as irrefutable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
01:49It is a principle all lawyers and law students should know by heart.
01:57But why post it on Facebook?
02:01Your Honours, why not?
02:06Yes, I am a lawyer, but more than just a lawyer, first and foremost, I am a teacher.
02:19I am a teacher, and I am proud to be one.
02:27I have been a lawyer for almost 16 years, but I have been a teacher, an educator for almost 20.
02:38At alam ng ating mga magigiting na guro, sa buong kapuloan, na ang pagtuturo ay likas sa ating mga guro.
02:49Ang pagtuturo, ang pagtatama ng mali, ay walang pinipiling lugar at walang pinipiling panahon.
03:01That's why I made that post.
03:04I was concerned that the statement made in open court that misleading questions are allowed will go unchecked.
03:14My teacher's instinct kicked in.
03:20I wanted the students I left in Cebu, especially in the University of San Jose Recoleto School of Law, where
03:29I have been teaching for the past 15 years.
03:32And recently, in the University of Cebu, and recently in the University of Cebu School of Law, and in Diliman,
03:38my alma mater, the University of the Philippines College of Law, and all law students out there,
03:46I want them to know that a teacher had heard that wrong statement in open court, and he is correcting
03:54that mistake on Facebook, as I have been doing the past years.
04:01To the defense, I shall not name names.
04:04I will not put you on the spot.
04:08But the post is not about you.
04:11It's not personal.
04:13It is about the law that we all adhere to.
04:19It is about what we teach the public who are watching our trial.
04:26Correcting a mistake is never wrong.
04:30Doing it while a hearing is ongoing online does not make it not right.
04:38Ang pagtatama ng mali ay kailanman hindi ipinagbabawal kahit sa loob ng impeachment court deto.
04:49Now the defense said they found it troubling or in bad taste for a prosecution lawyer like me to, quote,
04:59do this, unquote, in the middle of a courtroom hearing.
05:04But do what?
05:06Correct a wrong?
05:10On the contrary, your honors, what is more troubling is for the defense not to admit their mistake.
05:19And instead, call out a lawyer, a teacher who just stated what is correct in his own time and in
05:33his own Facebook account.
05:37What is troubling is if we turn a correction of a mistake by one side into a shield from fair
05:47criticism for the other.
05:53Now the defense is asking this court to act on my posts.
05:57It is elevating it to a serious courtroom violation.
06:03But what did I violate?
06:06I did not discuss the merits of the case.
06:10I did not discuss the strength or the weakness of the oral arguments or evidence of either side.
06:18I only stated without mentioning any name, using the most neutral of font color and background, black and gray,
06:29without adding any emoticon, without splicing anything.
06:38What the rules of procedure simply provide, that misleading questions are not allowed, even on cross-examination.
06:48Your Honors, we in the prosecution also have rights.
06:54I, for one, did not surrender my freedom to teach and to enlighten when I decided to participate in this
07:07trial.
07:09Patuloy po ako magiging guro kahit sa loob ng impeachment court na ito.
07:18Lastly, Your Honors, the defense mentioned humility.
07:24That I should have been humble enough not to post that now viral statement.
07:33Your Honors, being a provinciano from Leyte, Samar, and Cebu,
07:43and coming from a middle-income family born without a famous family name,
07:51who had to compete for his spot in this capital.
07:57I know a thing or two about humility.
08:03The defense cannot lecture me on humility.
08:10If there is somebody who needs to be reminded about humility, it's them, the defense.
08:21It is the opposite of humility.
08:25It is pride not to admit a mistake, or worse, call out someone who simply corrected that mistake.
08:43Good morning.
08:45Good morning.
08:55Good morning.
