THE camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Monday the impeachment proceedings against her in the House of Representatives had become a tragicomedy.
Her supporters said the House leaders appeared to have prejudged the impeachment case against her as the proceedings were expected to be concluded this month.
The impeachment complaint against Sereno was filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon who claims Sereno violated the Constitution and betrayed the public trust.
Sereno spokesman Jojo Lacanilao said the prejudgment was only making the conduct of more hearings absurd.
“It’s tragic-comic to hear the leadership of the House as having made up their minds against CJ Sereno, even before the justice committee votes on probable cause and the plenary on the committee’s report,” Lacanilao said in a statement.
He cited the recent statement of House justice committee chairman and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali that Sereno was no longer fit to stay in her office as the Supreme Court had become “dysfunctional” under her watch.
“How can you lead if you have a divided court? How can the government function if one branch is dysfunctional?” Umali was quoted as saying, citing the testimonies of high court justices in the previous hearings.
Earlier, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the issues raised against Sereno “stand on strong and solid ground.”
Last week, Umali said his panel would need four more hearings to complete the proceedings to vote and come up with a report.
Officials from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and psychiatrists ere expected to attend the succeeding hearings. Sereno’s Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth and her other tax payments will also be discussed, Umali said.
He said the committee wanted to find out if the chief magistrate was still fit to continue holding her position after several of her colleagues in the Supreme Court testified against her.
But Lacanilao believes the hearings are no longer necessary if the House panel has evidence to file its case against Sereno with the Senate for trial.
“One wonders why”•if they are so convinced about their case”•they would still need four hearing days to complete their work,” Lacanilao said.
Lacanilao reiterated his call for the House to file its case before the Senate where he expected a fair trial, saying the House hearings had not established any impeachable offense committed by Sereno.
“We are unconvinced that there is any impeachable offense established against CJ Sereno if we follow the Constitution on the grounds for impeachment,” Lacanilao said.
Her supporters said the House leaders appeared to have prejudged the impeachment case against her as the proceedings were expected to be concluded this month.