Ten lawyers from three law firms have agreed to assist the House prosecution team in the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte at no cost.
House prosecutors Gerville Luistro of Batangas and Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno of Akbayan party-list named the volunteer counsel, led by Atty. Marforth Fua, a former Assistant Presidential Legal Counsel to President Marcos under the late Juan Ponce Enrile.
The rest are Atty. James Alih, Atty. and CPA Erwin Matib, Atty. Justine Lamarca, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, Atty. Sonya Benemerito-Castillo, Atty. Deanna Lorenzo-Singia, Atty. Lino Kapunan, Atty. Bettina Zamora, and Atty. Amando Ligutan Saligal. Fua, Alih, Matib, and Lamarca are from Pecabar Law; Castillo, Singia, Kapunan, and Zamora from Kapunan and Castillo; and Ligutan from Saligal law firm.
Fua, who placed eighth in the 2007 Bar Examinations, downplayed any personal stake. “This is just any other legal work. There is nothing personal [here]. We have a job, and objective, and we will fulfill it like any other case,” he told reporters.
Lorna Kapunan was more pointed: “I go to this impeachment trial with a clear conscience, and we will be useful in presenting a strong, fair, evidence-based case. Bring it on.”
Ligutan, acknowledging the risk of prosecuting a popular Vice President, said the assignment was still worth it: “The honor that this opportunity brings…all the hardships will be worth it.”
The Articles of Impeachment endorsed by the House accuse Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes — spanning the alleged misuse of P500 million in OVP confidential funds and P112.5 million at DepEd, unexplained wealth, SALN lapses, undivested business interests, and an alleged plot to assassinate President Marcos, the First Lady, and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez.
