What it means to be a hostile witness in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial

SUMMARY This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. When Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff Zuleika Lopez takes the witness stand, she will be the first hostile witness in the impeachment trial of Duterte. It’s not a mere modifier to refer to an antagonistic person called by the party for direct examination, but a formal designation that changes how they are treated in court. The Senate’s existing impeachment rules do not make mention of the phrase “hostile witness” but say “the revised Rules of Court shall apply suppletorily whenever applicable.” Section 13 of the 2019 amendments to the 1989 Rules of Evidence states that the court can declare a witness as unwilling or hostile “upon adequate showing of his or her adverse interest, unjustified reluctance to testify, or his or her having misled the party into calling him or her to the witness stand.” What happens after her status as a hostile witness is formalized? “The examiner, the one presenting her, would be able to ask leading questions,” public prosecutor Leila de Lima told Rappler in an interview. “She is expected to be a hostile witness and therefore she has to be handled accordingly.” Under Section 10 of the Rules of Evidence, an unwilling or hostile witness may be subjected to leading and misleading questions. Normally, during direct examination of witnesses, they cannot be asked such questions. “The unwilling or hostile witness so declared, or the witness who is an adverse party, may be impeached by the party presenting him or her in all respects as if he or she had been called by the adverse party, except by evidence of his or her bad character. He or she may also be impeached and cross-examined by the adverse party, but such cross-examination must only be on the subject matter of his or her examination-in-chief,” reads Section 13 of the said guidelines. In the context of rules of evidence, to impeach someone means to challenge their credibility. “There will be preliminary questions to establish her being a hostile witness, then leading questions, because it is through leading questions that you’re able to really extract direct answers,” De Lima said. Lopez was the reason for Duterte’s visit to the House of Representatives first on November 21, 2024, when the Vice President locked herself inside her brother’s office and then days later held the infamous virtual media conference where she threatened the life of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family. Lopez at the time was detained at the House after being cited in contempt during a House good government committee inquiry into Duterte’s alleged fund misuse. Duterte’s outburst was triggered when Lopez, during the online Zoom press conference on November 23, had a meltdown after the House ordered her transfer to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City. Lopez was supposed to be the only one giving the unauthorized press conference from her detention cell but Duterte took over after her chief of staff suffered an anxiety attack. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel?