‘Generational divide’ lawyers share a hug

MANILA, Philippines — All is apparently well between the opposing lawyers in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte despite their “generational divide” as they hugged shortly before the start of the hearing yesterday.

In a rare show of amity, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense counsel Kristine Ferrer were both smiling as they hugged each other inside the session hall. The two had engaged in a verbal jousting during the previous hearing.

In an interview with One News, Kapunan said she had tried to approach Ferrer after the incident, but the latter had already left by the time the prosecution lawyer reached the spot occupied by the defense team.

“I was looking for her after the hearing but we were packing our things. We had 15 boxes to take care of. By the time I went to their side, she was not there,” Kapunan said.

She also clarified her “I’m going to spank you” remark, saying she was not being condescending when she uttered it.

“When I hardly lose my cool but if someone like that appears in front of me that’s why... I tried to make light of it and say, ‘I’m gonna spank you’ because that is what mothers do to kids and that was the context,” she said.

“I was not condescending. I did not want to sound condescending… That was the context of ‘I’m going to spank you.’ And because I may have hurt her feelings, I did say and I meant it when I said, ‘I will behave.’ Of course, I had my fingers crossed. I never behave. Everybody who knows me, I never behave,” she added.

During the impeachment trial last week, presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero had to play referee when the two lawyers locked horns. He said the tensions may have been sparked by a “generational divide.”

At a cross-examination of state auditor Xylene Mae del Campo, 74-year-old Kapunan objected to the line of questioning of Ferrer, who is in her 30s.

“Misleading questions are not allowed on cross,” Kapunan pointed out, but Ferrer responded, “They are allowed.”

“I don’t think I need to lecture you about that,” Kapunan said. Escudero intervened.

“Let’s not allow the generational or seeming generational divide increase the tension in the courtroom. Let’s keep it much lower,” the impeachment court’s presiding officer said.

Kapunan stressed, “I am preventing myself from giving her a spanking… That’s what I would have done in the generational divide.”

After a lunch break, Ferrer asked the court to “not allow side comments, ‘I was about to spank her, I was about to lecture her.’”

Kapunan had withdrawn her statement, Escudero noted. Yesterday, she was the one who approached the defense team. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab

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