Schooled by defense panel? Luistro says it’s fake, won’t allow it

MANILA, Philippines — Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro has disputed reports and rumors that she was “eaten alive” by the defense panel during the pre-trial conference for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment proceedings, saying that she would not allow such a thing to happen.

Luistro, in a press briefing on Monday at the Senate urged the public to be more careful in absorbing information from social media, noting that as a representative of the people, she will not allow the fight for accountability to be merely swallowed.

Luistro is the lead public prosecutor for Duterte’s impeachment trial.

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“That is not true, I charge it as fake news and the people should become very cautious now in watching from the social media, we should be careful in deciphering what is correct and what is false,” the lawmaker told reporters on the sidelines of the second day of the pre-trial conference.

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“Of course, I am conscious that I am representing the interests of the sovereign Filipino people. Hindi po ako papayag na lamunin nang buhay ang laban ng sambayang Pilipino,” she added.

(Of course, I am conscious that I am representing the interests of the sovereign Filipino people. I will not allow the fight of the Filipino people just to be devoured.)

Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, a member of the prosecution panel who was also present during the briefing, said that the circumstances surrounding the impeachment proceedings also signal the need to be more vigilant and discerning on social media.

“As these proceedings progress, we can expect more of that, more of disinformation, more of fake news, more of factual distortion, spins of the real stories of the things that happened as the proceedings progress.  Lalo na pagdating natin sa (Especially when we reach the) trial proper,” de Lima said.

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“So we just have to be very circumspect and careful about perceiving things and in our reporting.  So this is more sa socmed (social media) and we should be very careful about these things, because this is a highly charged event, of course, of the country.  So certain players might be doing things that will again try to undermine, especially the cause of the prosecution,” she added.

Over the weekend, there were reports that the defense’s lead counsel, lawyer Sheila Sison, schooled Luistro during the first day of the pre-trial conference, held by the Senate Impeachment Court last Thursday.

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While this claim was disputed by Luistro and the prosecution team, Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong — spokespersons for the prosecution confirmed — last Thursday that there was indeed a moment of heated discussions between the two sides.

Despite the disagreements, Adiong and Co said that they still consider the first day of the pre-trial conference to be a fruitful one since disputes in varying stipulations and statement of facts are normal.

READ: Prosecution team confirms heated debates, but pre-trial still a success

Co did not go into detail as to what were the points of contention, but she explained that these are “normal adversarial proceedings” which are threshed out in pre-trial conferences.

Prior to Adiong and Co’s press briefing last Thursday, defense team member and spokesperson Michael Poa confirmed that such an incident indeed happened, but also noted that these things were normal.

Poa denied claims that tensions flared, saying that the issue centered on discussions usual for this stage of the trial. /gsg

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