Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno said kindness, while a human virtue, is not required under courtroom rules, which instead demand respect and proper conduct from lawyers.

Drawing from his 30 years of litigation experience, Diokno said he had never encountered a court that required opposing lawyers to be kind to each other. What is expected, he said, is proper courtroom behavior.

“Of course, we all want kindness as a human virtue, but as far as court rules are concerned, it is only important for court decorum and proper court behavior to be followed. So, respect, the essence of court decorum is respect,” Diokno said.

His remarks came after defense lawyer Sheila Sison made a manifestation during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial Wednesday, criticizing private prosecutor Armando Virgil Ligutan over a social media post that appeared to call out a member of the defense team.

The post followed an exchange between private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer over whether “misleading questions” are allowed during cross-examination.

Ligutan later said practicing lawyers knew “by heart” that misleading questions were not allowed.

Sison described the social media remarks as “troubling,” particularly because they came from someone actively participating in the impeachment trial and were posted while proceedings were ongoing.

She also raised the possibility that the post could fall under Rule 18 of the impeachment rules, which prohibits lawyers from making public statements about the merits of the case.

“Now, one may argue that this isn’t about the merits of the case and he probably was just commenting on what ought or ought not to do in a cross examination but we are not naive what the private prosecutor is talking about,” Sison said.

“I really just find it in bad taste to do this at this time, and I think it is inappropriate to do that to a fellow member of the bar because even as we sit on the opposing side of this hall, we remain to be both members of the bar and as officers of the court we owe each other respect, politeness, or even kindness,” she added.

Arguments aren't proven by volume

Diokno also stressed that raising one’s voice does not make a lawyer’s argument stronger.

He said judges decide cases based on the merits of arguments, not on which lawyer speaks the loudest.

“Court hearings are not about who can speak louder. That is not where judges base their assessment on whether the statements of a lawyer had sufficient basis,” he said.

Diokno also called on lawyers to show respect toward witnesses regardless of their testimony.

He said lawyers should allow witnesses to finish answering questions before taking further action, describing it as a basic demonstration of respect during court proceedings.