A coalition of women’s rights defenders, university scholars, and feminist organizations brought their case to the Senate ethics committee on Wednesday, asking the chamber to hold Sen. Pia Cayetano accountable for circulating an altered video that they say twisted the words of House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno.
The panel on ethics and privileges logged the filing at 3:11 p.m., according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Those behind it want an official inquiry into how the senator-judge came to share what they described as a doctored clip on Facebook while the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte was still being heard.
At the heart of the grievance is the accusation that the recording was cut in a way that reversed the sense of what Diokno had actually argued. By stripping out his legal reasoning, the complainants said, Cayetano left viewers with the false impression that the prosecutor had admitted to a questionable courtroom tactic. They characterized this as “active, calculated deceit” and an “artifice designed to deceive the viewing public into believing that Rep. Diokno confessed to an improper legal maneuver.”
The signatories argued that a member of the bar cannot behave this way without running afoul of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability, which bars lawyers from dishonest or deceitful acts. They also pointed to the oath every senator-judge swore to render impartial justice under the Constitution, contending that Cayetano broke that vow and exposed a leaning toward the vice president’s defense.
Among those who put their names to the complaint were former Commission on Higher Education chief Patricia “Tatti” Licuanan and University of the Philippines Diliman professor Jean Franco, a co-convenor of the Everywoman network. The Inquirer reported that they were joined by the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, the Sanctuary Network, District Wide Advocates Quezon City, Pandayan Para sa Sosyalistang Pilipinas, a student council leader from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, and other advocacy groups.
The clip in question showed an exchange during the trial in which Diokno responded to questioning from Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the respondent senator’s brother, over the prosecution’s push to subpoena Duterte’s bank, tax, and Anti-Money Laundering Council records. Diokno had been defending that request as tied to allegations that the vice president misrepresented her net worth. According to Interaksyon, the version Cayetano posted carried the caption suggesting the prosecution was merely taking a gamble without proof, and it ended with an added laugh track.
Diokno later pushed back by releasing the complete version of his remarks, insisting the bid for financial records was not a mere fishing expedition. “A fishing expedition can be said to have happened only if the party requesting the evidence or documents is merely hoping to find something,” he said, adding that the prosecution had grounds rooted in AMLC findings involving large sums moving through accounts linked to Duterte and her husband.
The complainants are pressing the Senate to formally reprimand Cayetano, warning that inaction would chip away at public faith in the neutrality demanded of those sitting in judgment. They framed the edited post as a blow to the credibility of the institution itself, arguing that no member of the court should be free to selectively present official proceedings in a way that misleads the public.
