The renowned attorney is no stranger to handling high-profile cases and defending controversial public figures.
Lorna Kapunan is perhaps the most recognizable name in the list of private lawyers who are forming the impeachment panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
His first appearance in the high-stakes case came on Tuesday, July 14, when the lawyer revealed the prosecution’s intention to remove Office of the Vice President chief of staff Zuleika Lopez from their witness list.
Kapunan is one of the first people enlisted by House in their team. When Congress impeached Duterte for the first time in 2025, Kapunan expressed his desire to participate in what he described at the time as the “trial of the century.”
“It is our responsibility to defend what is right. It is our responsibility as lawyers to defend justice, and we see that this is dirty, we see that this is burying evidence, we see that this is a brutal violation of the Constitution, and the principle of responsibility is violated,” Kapunan said in an interview with DZMM at the time.
It is not surprising that Kapunan chose the legal profession. After all, she is the daughter of Lino Mejia Patajo, a former associate justice of the Supreme Court, whom Kapunan fondly remembers as his “anchor and moral compass in life and law.”
A graduate of political science and law from the University of the Philippines, Kapunan started his career as a senior partner at ACCRALAW in 1978. He stayed there until 1986, when he started managing his own companies. Today, it is known as Kapunan and Castillo Law Offices, which he founded in 2011.
She is the widow of former court judge Eduardo Ronen Kapunan, whom she loss of cancer in 2001. Her son died of leukemia two years later, a tragedy that inspired her to start a bereavement group.
Kapunan is proud to be a defender of women’s rights, and was even the chairman of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. But she has also been criticized for representing controversial male clients, such as Dr. Hayden Khoand Kris Aquino’s ex-husband James Yap.
The renowned lawyer is no stranger to dealing with cases that have captured national attention. These include:
- West Tower Condominium vs. First Philippine Industrial Corporation (FPIC) case: Kapunan served as the attorney for the plaintiffs who complained about the pipeline causing dangerous leaks. The case is known for establishing the Supreme Court as the very first Original text.
- The queen of the pork barrel scam Janet Lim Napoles‘ A serious case of illegal detention, which Kapunan he withdrew from as a leading lawyer in 2013 due to “difference of opinion” and another lawyer in Napoles’ team.
- A class suit where he represented the management of Philippine Airlines, who sued the airline for forcing them to retire at the age of 55 while their male counterparts would have retired at 60.
- The tragic case of Horacio Castillo III, who represented his family. A Manila court convicted him of unjust harassment due to remarks he made while dealing with the case.
- The case of missing cockfighters, where he briefly represented businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang.
Kapunan also developed political ambitions. He ran for senator in 2016 as part of then senatorial candidate Grace Poe, but placed 29th after receiving over a million votes.
Kapunan’s legal career brought him out of the courtroom and into the broadcast studio, as he also served as a television presenter for various programs, such as Aliw23 TV’s “Laban Para sa Karapatan”, DZRJ TV’s “Legal Speaking” and TV5’s “FACE 2 FACE”.
On Wednesday, July 15, Senator Pia Cayetano called out Kapunan for giving a lengthy explanation why the prosecution removed Lopez from the witness list. Some judges-senators claimed that such information could affect the impartiality of the trial court.
“When we talk about equality and when we talk about impartiality, the same standard should be applied not only to the prosecutors, not only to the defense, but to the judges-senators,” Kapunan said later. – Rappler.com
Isabel Victorino is a fourth year AB Communication student at Ateneo de Manila University and a writer for her school publication The GUIDON. He is currently a Rappler student.
