House prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon said that the numerous heated exchanges during the impeachment proceedings on Wednesday could have been avoided had the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte observed how they carried themselves in the impeachment court.

He explained that the tension between both parties, which was addressed during the proceedings, was a problem that was not encountered when defense lawyer Atty. Michael Poa was conducting the cross-examination of witnesses, pointing out his calm demeanor.

“A very important point needs to be made, this never happened under Michael Poa actually presenting evidence, we never had debates on anger issues, on raising your voice to the prosecution, the presiding officer, and to the witness. That was never a concern when Attorney Poa was actually presenting the evidence,” Ridon explained.

“In truth, everyone is basically just responding to the manner by which people actually act during trial and outside the trial, maybe we need to self-reflect to see who is really at fault for what happened today,” he added.

The particular issue that Ridon was referring to was a matter that was raised during the trial as lead defense lawyer Atty. Shiela Sison called out private prosecutor Atty. Armando Ligutan over comments that he had on social media concerning the line of questioning of Atty. Kristine Ferrer.

Sison argued that such sentiments were “troubling” given that they were in the middle of a courtroom hearing and that “decorum” must be observed during the trial.

“We are not naive what the private prosecutor is talking about. He’s here. He can explain it. He can explain himself if the Presiding Officer so desires. But I really just find it in bad taste to do this at this time,” she said.

“We will not have this,” she stressed.

Ruling on the matter, impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero maintained that they had closely monitored the activity of both parties over the weekend, claiming that he would be making a ruling on the issue on Monday, 17 August, as the trial had exceeded its allocated time.

Ridon, however, argued that the bigger issue when it came to external comments related to the impeachment proceedings came from Duterte herself, who has repeatedly questioned the constitutional process from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

He argued that it was important for the defense to compel their client to explain her statements to the impeachment court, noting that the sentiments were a direct attack against the integrity of the court.

Given that both parties were warned to refrain from comments that would violate the sub judice rule, Ridon expressed hope that they would still be allowed to explain the process to the public that had the right to know what was taking place.

“The conversation here shouldn't be limited to congressmen, senators, and high-ranking officials facing accusations; we need to bring ordinary Filipinos along throughout this entire process,” he said.