Sparks fly in the impeachment trial as lawyers quarrel

There were fireworks in the Senate hall as the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte entered its 15th day after the prosecution and defense lawyers had a heated argument.

State auditor Xylene del Campo being cross-examined by defense counsel Kristine Ferrer on the 15th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. Photo by Joseph Vidal/Senate Social Media Unit

Manuel Mogato | August 13, 2026

MANILA — There were fireworks in the Senate hall as the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte entered its 15th day after the prosecution and defense lawyers had a heated argument on how to handle the cross-examination of a witness.

Senator Francis Escudero, sitting as the presiding judge, had to intervene twice as seasoned private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and the young defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer had a heated exchange during the latter’s cross-examination of Xylene del Campo, an auditor of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office.

Del Campo returned to the witness stand to testify about the vice president’s alleged misuse of confidential funds released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2022 and 2023. (Also read: Auditor flags further discrepancies on VP Duterte’s confidential fund spending)

Escudero observed a seeming “generational divide” when Kapunan asked the impeachment court to instruct Ferrer not to interrupt the witness mid-sentence.

In response, Ferrer asked the court to direct the witness to answer her question with yes or no.

However, Kapunan said, “not all questions can be answered by yes or no.”

“I’m on cross, Your Honor, please,” the defense lawyer said.

“Never mind if you’re on cross. There are limits to cross examinations. Misleading questions are not allowed on cross,” Kapunan countered.

When Ferrer insisted that misleading questions are allowed during cross examinations, Kapunan answered: “I don’t think I need to lecture you on that.”

At this point, Escudero intervened as tensions heightened in the courtroom.

“Let’s keep it a notch lower,” Escudero admonished the two women lawyers.

Just when Escudero thought he had already calmed the two, the exchange continued as Ferrer questioned the witness about a 1992 Commission on Audit (COA) circular.

“This is part of the seeming generational divide, tension that the court is trying to avoid,” Escudero said.

Kapunan acceded, adding that she would refrain from lecturing the defense lawyer.

Ferrer spent almost six hours grilling the witness, trying to discredit her testimony. But del Campo held her ground.

She said the Commission on Audit Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) may still launch a fraud investigation in the use of confidential funds.

“The possibility of conducting a fraud audit is still being studied; this is the first time,” she told a senator-judge.

“The transactions involving the OVP and DepEd contain voluminous documents with sensitive information that, if given to other offices, might be exposed,” del Campo said.

The COA-ICFAO has issued two notices of disallowance to the OVP, ordering the office to return 448 million pesos in confidential funds and 100 million pesos in the Department of Education after the COA flagged irregularities in the funds.