Several online posts are attributing a quote to defense spokesman Michael Poa purportedly firing back at House prosecutor Terry Ridon over his comments on the issue of misleading questions during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. This is fake.
Poa’s alleged remark can be traced back to an Aug. 17 post by a “news media” page, which has since been deleted but was reposted multiple times in various graphics. It reads:
“Ang lata po kapag walang laman ay maingay. (An empty can makes the most noise.) He’s referring to himself, because since Day One of the impeachment, he’s been the one crying at practically every prescon (sic) like they’re winning all day.”
The defense counsel supposedly made this sharp-worded statement in response to Ridon’s remarks on Aug. 12, as indicated in the quote card:
“Ramdam ko yung PAG-IYAK, ramdam ko yung PIGHATI ramdam ko yung HINAGPIS ng Depensa. Kawawa naman sila.
(I can feel the crying, I can feel the sorrow, I can feel the grief of the defense. I feel sorry for them.)”
No public record supports such a claim. On Aug. 18, Poa debunked the “untrue” posts, stressing that he “never made or issued that statement.”
“While Rep. Ridon and I may find ourselves on opposing sides in the impeachment proceedings, I have always endeavored my statements to be respectful, professional and focused solely on the issues. I would therefore not want words that I did not say, particularly statements directed personally against him, to be attributed to me,” he was quoted as saying in several news reports.
The fabricated response by Poa began circulating after Ridon defended private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan for his Aug. 12 social media post stating that “misleading questions are not allowed even on cross-examination.” This was subsequently called out by lead defense lawyer Sheila Sison.
“Ramdam ko ‘yung pag-iyak, ramdam ko ‘yung pighati, ramdam ko ‘yung hinagpis ng depensa sa pagrereklamo nila…Kung naiyak ‘yung depensa, kawawa naman sila,” Ridon said during an Aug. 12 press conference.
(I can feel the crying, I can feel the sorrow, I can feel the grief of the defense in their complaints…If the defense is crying, I feel sorry for them.)
The Bicol Saro party-list representative added that Ligutan did not violate the sub judice rule as the private prosecutor was merely stating a legal principle and did not discuss the merits of Duterte’s impeachment case.
Rule 18 of the procedure on impeachment trials prohibits the presiding officer, members of the Senate, prosecutors, the respondent, the counsels and witnesses “from making any comments and disclosures in public pertaining to the merits of a pending impeachment trial.”
While Ligutan made the post without naming names, Sison believed it was in response to defense counsel Katherine Ferrer’s “it is allowed” quip after private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan said that “misleading questions are not allowed” during the cross-examination of state auditor Xylene Mae del Campo.
Presiding officer Francis Escudero has yet to issue a ruling on the public statements and social media posts by counsels of the parties in relation to the ongoing impeachment proceedings.
The bogus quote was originally published by a certain Central Luzon News Update (created as Camille on March 14, 2024), which is now inaccessible after being singled out in Poa’s statement. Another copy of the manufactured quote card was likewise published by Luzon News Media (created on Dec. 21, 2019 and once renamed to SMNI News North Central Luzon) but is no longer visible on the page.
Other copies and reposts on FB, including by pages Intel News PH (Nov. 16, 2025), Philippine Education Stories and News (Nov. 1, 2017) and AllWrite (June 9, 2020), collectively amassed 110,517 reactions; 10,390 comments and 3,428 shares. Some netizens also cross-posted Poa’s made-up statement on X and TikTok.
