MikeLigalig.com

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net

The impeachment court should admonish not only the prosecutors but even the defense team for violations of rules when they publicly discussed the merits of the case against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Tuesday.

“As a senator judge, I cannot sit idly by and watch blatant violations of our Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials that unambiguously prohibits senator judges as well as prosecutors, the person impeached, their counsels, and witnesses from making any comments and disclosures in public pertaining to the merits of a pending impeachment trial,” Lacson, who is sitting as judge in the impeachment trial, said in a statement.

“If we allow such undisciplined public presentation of evidence by any party in utter disregard of the ethics of their legal profession to continue, the Senate may lose control of the situation and I am certain it will damage not just the Senate as an impeachment court but the sacredness of the whole impeachment process as well,” he said.