Merci favors gag order at Senate trial for 'fairness'

Even as she continued to hit back at those pushing for her ouster, impeached Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez on Wednesday voiced full support for a proposed gag order on senator-judges during her impeachment trial. Gutierrez said the move may help ensure fairness in the trial, adding that her critics had been trying to secure her conviction through a trial by publicity. “Ah dapat, dapat lang naman [may gag order] para magkaroon ng fair trial (Yes, we should have that so we will have a fair trial)," she said in an interview on dwIZ radio. Senators are deliberating on the rules to be adopted for the trial of Gutierrez, who was impeached by the House of Representatives by a vote of 212 against 46. Among the proposed rules were those pertaining to a gag order on senator-judges so they would not be influenced by outside sources. Meanwhile, Gutierrez did not make a comment on a reported rule that she will have to disprove all six articles of impeachment against her, while prosecutors at her trial need prove only one article of impeachment to ensure her ouster. “Di ko alam, di ako makapagsalita tungkol diyan. Mukhang di pa (I don’t know, I will not comment on that yet)," she said. She also said that while she considers her impeachment a big challenge, she is confident she will get a fair shake from the Senate. “It’s a big challenge but itong accusations are baseless. Pinapalaki lang sa pamamagitan ng pagharap sa media at pagpa-interview ng taong gusto ako paalisin dahil nagmamadali silang magpalit ng Ombudsman," she said. (It is a big challenge but I know the accusations against me are baseless. The accusations are coming from people who keep going to media for interviews so they could remove and replace me.)

Senators mixed on gag order On Tuesday, Sen. Miriam Santiago supported suggestions to bar senators from talking about the case to anyone apart from among themselves. In her proposal, Santiago said: "No senator-judge shall communicate with any person who is not a senator-judge, in the course of and concerning the proceedings of the impeachment trial, until after final judgment." She even suggested that "no communication" should cover mobile phones and the Internet. Likewise, no senator-judge should give interviews to members of the media, "particularly on the merits of the case, until after final judgment," Santiago said. Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III earlier said they will tackle the issue of senators who might use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to give their opinions on the impeachment case. But Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano pushed for full media coverage, to give Filipinos "enough information to make an informed judgment and to be able to lobby with us." For his part, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile clarified that he has not issued any gag order preventing his fellow senator-judges, prosecutors, and witnesses from giving media interviews at all times, at least for now. But Enrile clarified that senator-judges are not allowed to give interviews only while impeachment proceedings are ongoing. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News