Senate impeachment court strikes 'lawyer who knows nothing' remark from record

The Senate impeachment court has ordered the removal of the phrase 'abogadong walang alam' (a lawyer who knows nothing) from Senate records, after private prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa Jr. used it to question Vice President Sara Duterte's counsel Michael Poa about his knowledge on confidential fund spending at the Department of Education (DepEd). This decision came after defense team lead counsel Sheila Sison called out Tolosa's statement as a 'rhetoric to provide drama' during Day 21 of Duterte's impeachment trial. Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero stated that such a description of a fellow lawyer is inappropriate. 'The chair orders to strike abogadong walang alam off the records. The chair finds it discourteous, to say the least,' Escudero said. Tolosa explained that his comments were not intended to disparage Poa and were based on Poa's previous testimony before a House inquiry where he stated he 'knew totally nothing' about DepEd's confidential fund disbursements. 'I offended you, I am sorry. It wasn't my intention,' Tolosa said. Poa had stepped down as spokesperson for the defense panel when called by the prosecution to testify in the impeachment trial regarding the use of confidential funds in the DepEd during Duterte's tenure as the agency's secretary. — VDV, GMA News