Jaehwa Bernardo

Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the panel of prosecutors, examines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung on the second day of the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte at the Philippine Senate in Pasay City on July 7, 2026. House prosecutors presented evidence in relation to the fourth article of impeachment, which focuses on the death threats made by Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and other actions seen as inciting to sedition.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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VP Sara Impeachment

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178771248477020260707-senate-vp-sara-impeachment-day2-MT4.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the panel of prosecutors, examines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung on the second day of the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte at the Philippine Senate in Pasay City on July 7, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File</div>MANILA (UPDATE) — Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, defended Wednesday his Facebook post about misleading questions that drew complaints from the defense panel, saying it was prompted by his instinct as a teacher to correct mistakes.Before the start of Wednesday&#x27;s proceedings, Ligutan was allowed to air his side on the issue over his post, which had earlier been raised by lead defense counsel Sheila Sison before the Senate impeachment court.“I am a lawyer, but more than just a lawyer, first and foremost, I am a teacher. Isa po akong guro,” Ligutan said, noting that he has been an educator for nearly two decades, longer than the almost 16 years he has been a lawyer.&quot;At alam ng ating magigiting na guro sa buong kapuluan na ang pagtuturo ay likas sa ating mga guro. Ang pagtuturo, ang pagtatama ng mali ay walang pinipiling lugar at walang pinipiling panahon. That&#x27;s why I made that post,&quot; Ligutan said.&quot;I was concerned that the statement made in open court that misleading questions r allowed would go unchecked, my teacher&#x27;s instinct kicked in,&quot; he added.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/sara-duterte-impeachment-trial">Impeachment Trial of Sara Duterte </a></div>Ligutan&#x27;s August 12 post on Facebook read: &quot;A principle ALL lawyers and law students know by heart: Misleading questions are NOT allowed even on cross-examination.&quot;Sison raised the issue before the court, arguing that the post painted fellow defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer in a bad light.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/12/ligutan-maintains-no-malice-with-social-media-post-on-misleading-questions-1752">READ: Ligutan maintains ‘no malice, nothing illegal’ with social media post about misleading questions </a></div>Earlier that day, Ferrer appeared to say during an exchange with prosecution lawyer Lorna Kapunan that lawyers are allowed to ask misleading questions during the cross-examination of a witness.Kapunan said, &quot;There are limits to cross-examination. Leading... misleading questions are not allowed on cross [examination],&quot; to which Ferrer responded, &quot;They are allowed.&quot;<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/26/vp-sara-prove-impeachment-case-with-evidence-not-insults-1045">VP Sara: Prove impeachment case ‘with evidence, not insults’</a></div><div>&#x27;NOT PERSONAL&#x27; </div>As he continued to defend his post, Ligutan, without naming names, said: &quot;The post is not about you, it&#x27;s not personal. It is about the law that we all adhere to, it is about what we teach the public who are watching our trial. Correcting a mistake is never wrong, doing it while a hearing is ongoing online does not make it not right.&quot;Ligutan said he found it more troubling that the defense could not admit its mistake and instead &quot;call out a lawyer, a teacher who just stated what is correct.&quot;&quot;What is troubling is if we turn a correction of a mistake by one side into a shield from fair criticism for the other,&quot; he said.Ligutan argued his post did not violate the rule that restricts public comments about the merits of the case.&quot;We in the prosecution also have rights. I, for one, did not surrender my freedom to teach and to enlighten when I decided to participate in this trial. Patuloy po akong magiging guro kahit sa loob ng impeachment court na ito,&quot; he said.The prosecution lawyer also hit back at the defense’s remark that he should have shown humility. Noting his provincial roots and middle-income family background &quot;without a famous family name,&quot; Ligutan said, &quot;I know a thing or two about humility. The defense cannot lecture me on humility.&quot;&quot;If there&#x27;s somebody who needs to be reminded about humility, it&#x27;s them, the defense,&quot; he said. &quot;It is the opposite of humility, it is pride not to admit a mistake or worse, call out someone who simply corrected that mistake.&quot;Following Ligutan&#x27;s statement, Sen. Francis Escudero, the presiding officer of the impeachment court, read the transcript of the exchange between Kapunan and Ferrer, noting the confusion over whether Ferrer was referring to leading or misleading questions.&quot;Most likely, what happened, although we will check the video, would be Atty. Ferrer commenting on the earlier statement that was corrected later on by Atty. Kapunan and changed leading to misleading. Perhaps Atty. Ferrer was referring to leading questions and not misleading questions,&quot; Escudero said.Escudero told Ligutan that while he cannot &quot;remove your hat as a teacher,&quot; the rules of the Senate require him to &quot;unbundle it, decouple it.&quot;Escudero added that Ligutan&#x27;s teaching obligation &quot;does not take away your responsibility under the CIPRA (Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability) to a fellow lawyer who you are jousting with or arguing with or competing against [in] this impeachment court.&quot; Before proceeding with the cross-examination of Office of the Vice President Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio, Ferrer sought to &quot;set the record straight&quot; on the matter.&quot;When I said they are allowed, I was referring to leading questions,&quot; Ferrer said.&quot;I was indeed asking a leading question before Atty. Kapunan objected,&quot; Ferrer said, before saying she wanted the &quot;issue to be closed.&quot;But Kapunan refuted Ferrer&#x27;s clarification.&quot;The statement of counsel (Ferrer) is misleading because it was very clear... that the immediate phrase which led to my remark was not about &#x27;leading,&#x27; it was about &#x27;misleading&#x27; [questions],&quot; Kapunan said.&quot;If I heard it, if the whole legal profession heard it, if this courtroom heard it, if the outside audience heard it, then it is what it is. She had said misleading [questions] is allowed,&quot; she said.&quot;Let us not mislead again this honorable court,&quot; Kapunan added.Escudero said he would furnish the parties with copies of the transcript, which he quoted once again, and insisted that the cross-examination proceed.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/26/escudero-reminds-senator-judges-to-remain-impartial-in-sara-duterte-impeachment-trial-1036">Escudero reminds senator-judges to remain impartial in VP Sara impeachment trial </a> <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/26/live-updates-vice-president-sara-duterte-s-impeachment-trial-day-19-0948">LIVE UPDATES: Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s Impeachment Trial (Day 19) </a> <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/26/-defense-to-cross-examine-ovp-witness-on-impeach-trial-day-19-0927">Defense to cross-examine OVP witness on impeach trial Day 19</a></div><div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/foqMBjPyZe8?&amp;pp=0gcJCRMMAYcqIYzv&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, defended Wednesday his Facebook post about misleading questions that drew complaints from the defense panel, saying it was prompted by his instinct as a teacher to correct mistakes.

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, defended Wednesday his Facebook post about misleading questions that drew complaints from the defense panel, saying it was prompted by his instinct as a teacher to correct mistakes.

'It's not personal': Ligutan says 'teacher's instinct' prompted FB post

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'It's not personal': Ligutan says 'teacher's instinct' prompted FB post

Jaehwa Bernardo,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 26, 2026 11:11 AM PHT

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Updated August 26, 2026 11:16 AM PHT

Read More:

Sara Duterte impeachment

Amando Virgil Ligutan

Shiela Sison

Kristine Ferrer

misleading questions

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