14/10/2026
‘SHE IS A BULLY’ — KAPUNAN KAY SISON
Private prosecutor Atty. Lorna Kapunan called Vice President Sara Duterte’s lead defense counsel, Atty. Sheila Sison, a “bully” during a House prosecution panel press conference on Tuesday, criticizing her statements during the ongoing impeachment proceedings.
“In my years of practice, I know what bullying is… And that’s exactly what the head defense prosecutor does to us. She bullies us,” Kapunan said.
Kapunan took issue with Sison’s use of terms such as “persecution,” “accused” and “denial of due process” in her manifestations before the Senate impeachment court. She also accused Sison of disrespecting the senator-judges by questioning whether they were upholding their oath of fairness, justice and political neutrality. Kapunan said such conduct had no place in proceedings before a court tasked with deciding an impeachment case.
Sison had earlier criticized the prosecution’s decision to withdraw three of the four impeachment articles against Duterte, calling the move unfair and warning that it could raise concerns about a possible mistrial. She argued that the Vice President should be allowed to rebut allegations that prosecutors had already presented before the public, even if those charges were later withdrawn.
On Tuesday, the Senate impeachment court accepted the prosecution’s withdrawal of Article I on the alleged misuse of confidential funds, Article III on bribery, and Article IV on alleged grave threats and related accusations. The trial will proceed on Article II, which concerns allegations of unexplained wealth, incomplete asset declarations and failure to divest from business interests. | Diumano