THE chairman of the House committee on justice said Sunday that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno could be impeached by the third week of March.
In an interview on radio dzBB, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said after Monday’s hearing—the 14th on the impeachment petition against Sereno, the House would reach a decision by the third week of March.
He said two psychiatrists who supposedly gave Sereno a low score in a psychiatric test are set to testify. Also, the Bureau of Internal Revenue would make public the discrepancies in Sereno’s tax records.
“There is no controverting [the evidence]… no opposition since the chief justice did not participate [in the hearings]” he said.
“That is the way I see things are since we have already established so many things during the hearings, and that many issues have already been clarified. We do not only see the issues as [mere] hearsay since there have been eight justices [who] testified [against her],” he added.
After the committee hearing on Feb. 27, Umali said the committee would vote on March 6 on the determination of probable cause to impeach Sereno and take another vote on March 13 to approve the committee report with the articles of impeachment. Plenary voting would come the following week.
“Tuesday is our last hearing on probable cause,” he said, saying the House plans to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate before Congress takes a Holy Week recess.
Umali said the two psychiatrists would come forward to testify and determine the authenticity of the complaint of lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, who said in his complaint that Sereno had failed the psychological exam when she applied for the top post in the Supreme Court.
Deputy Speaker and Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia previously named the two psychiatrists hired by the Judicial and Bar Council as Dr. Dulce Liza Sahagun-Reyes and Dr. Genuina Ranoy.
Umali said his panel is also expecting Internal Revenue Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa to secure clearance from the Office of the President to release the results of their investigation into Sereno’s tax records.
“To me, that issue is something since tax is the lifeblood in the doctrine of taxes,” he said.
ABS Rep. Eugene Michael de Vera earlier urged the BIR to look into Sereno’s supposed failure to pay the correct taxes on her alleged P37 million earnings for serving as government counsel in arbitration proceedings against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc., the builder of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3.
Sereno’s camp said Sunday she will not quit despite threats of more legal cases to force her to resign as chief magistrate of the Supreme Court.
Lawyer Josa Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, reiterated this on Sunday following reports that more cases will be filed against her and a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court.
Deinla said these moves were acts of “fear and desperation” by those who have also probably lost trust in the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.
“The chief justice cannot be hostaged to bombastic threats that are built entirely on lies… The chief justice has made it clear since the beginning of this well-orchestrated but pathetic telenovela masquerading as an impeachment proceeding, that she will not resign and will continue to dispense her faithfully sworn duty under the Constitution,” the lawyer said in a statement.
“We reiterate that the chief justice is looking forward to defend herself in the Senate when it convenes as an impeachment trial court and where, hopefully, her basic and constitutional rights will be recognized and respected,” Deinla added.
Gadon, the complainant in the impeachment case against her, earlier threatened to file more cases against Sereno and court officials accused of covering up her alleged illegal acts in the Supreme Court.
“I am calling upon Chief Justice Sereno, you should resign because it’s obvious that you violated the law. You violated the Constitution. You committed several irregularities in the Supreme Court,” Gadon said.
Should Sereno refuse to resign soon, he said he would charge Sereno with graft for her purchase of a P5 million Toyota Land Cruiser as her service vehicle, her hiring of an information technology consultant who allegedly received hefty pay and allowances, and the alleged delay in the release of benefits for surviving spouses of deceased judges.
Gadon also vowed to file cases against SC Deputy Court Administrators Raul Villanueva and Thelma Bahia, Deputy Clerk Of Court Anna Li Papa-Gombio, Office of Administrative Services Assistant Chief Ma. Carina Cunanan, Fiscal Management and Budget Office chief Corazon Ferrer-Flores, court attorneys Michael Ocampo and Jocelyn Fabian, IT consultant Helen Macasaet, Sereno’s staff head Ma. Lourdes Oliveros and former staff head and now Sandiganbayan Justice Zaldy Trespeses.
Sereno’s camp belittled Gadon’s threat, calling it a “firecracker dud.”
“This latest stunt by attorney Gadon smacks of fear and desperation, and proves that he has completely lost faith in the impeachment proceeding in the House of Representatives,” Deinla said.
“Chief Justice Sereno’s detractors are expanding their weak ouster move to professional civil servants who refuse to lie and toe the line of those wishing to see the chief justice unjustly and unfairly removed from the Supreme Court. This deserves nothing but condemnation for using them as political tools in the impeachment,” she added.
Apart from the criminal charges, Sereno also faces a quo warranto petition to be filed by the Office of the Solicitor General next month that would challenge the legal basis of her appointment as chief justice in 2012 and could put her fate in the hands of her fellow justices in the SC – most of whom have testified in the impeachment proceedings against her.
Earlier reports indicated that the OSG has started to draft the petition that would seek her removal from office upon request by suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.
A quo warranto petition seeks the removal of the respondent from office because of lack of qualification or legal basis to continue holding the office.
Mallari asked the OSG specifically to move for the removal of Sereno from the top SC post due to supposed void appointment because of non-eligibility for the post after it was found in the impeachment hearings that she did not meet the 10-year statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) requirement for the post.
If granted by the Court, the chief justice could be ordered to vacate her post without the need to complete the ongoing impeachment proceedings in Congress.
But Sereno’s camp also dismissed this hreat and argued that she could only be removed by impeachment and cannot be covered by quo warranto proceedings.