THE camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Sunday President Rodrigo Duterte is barred under the Constitution from carrying out his threat to file an impeachment complaint against her because of the one-year rule.
Lawyer Josa Deinla, spokesperson for Sereno, pointed out that under the Constitution, “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”
Duterte had earlier threatened to file an impeachment complaint against Sereno on top of the one filed by lawyer Larry Gadon.
Deinla acknowledged, however, that Duterte’s remarks against Sereno could sway the outcome of the impeachment proceedings against the chief justice at the House of Representatives.
But she said Sereno’s legal time is determined “to fight to the very end.”
“We know we are on the side of the truth,” Deinla said in Filipino.
The House committee on justice has found there are sufficient grounds to move on to the next stage of the impeachment process, a hearing to determine probable cause set for November.
Deinla said Sereno’s legal team is preparing for the House hearings as well as an impeachment trial before the Senate, which looks probable.
House Deputy Speaker and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro on Sunday said evidence is strong enough to impeach Sereno.
In a radio interview over dzBB Catro said the evidence against Sereno is “overwhelming.”
The failure of Sereno to declare all her properties in her statement of assets and liabilities net worth is already strong evidence to oust her, as was the case with the late chief justice Renato Corona in 2011.
“The evidence is overwhelming. The grounds are overwhelming against Chief Justice Sereno. There is a strong possibility that she could be ousted,” he said.
The Senate cannot disregard Sereno’s failure to disclose all her other properties and assets in her SALN, he added.
Castro, however, said the impeachment of Sereno would still depend on the determination of probable cause.
“We have to look at the evidence,” he said.
“If proven that there is hidden wealth, she is in danger,” he added.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House committee on justice, declared sufficiency of grounds in the impeachment rap filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon against Sereno.
Gadon filed an impeachment complaint against Sereno, citing her culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes.
Castro dismissed Gadon’s request to appoint Duterte to act as special prosecutor in the impeachment proceedings once the complaint has reached the Senate.
He, along with Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrerra-Dy, said Gadon’s proposal was “out of [this] world.”
Castro, also a lawyer, said Gadon should be guided by the Constitution that only members of Congress are mandated to represent the 11-man House prosecution panel in the Senate impeachment court.
Gadon on Sunday challenged Sereno to sign a waiver on bank secrecy to allow the examination of her bank assets amid charges of hidden wealth in the impeachment case before the House.
“Since she insists on clinging on to her post, then she should now sign a bank waiver on the secrecy of deposits,” Gadon said in a text message.
“If she has nothing to hide, then it should be easy for her to do that,” he added.
Due to strict bank secrecy in the country, a waiver is necessary before bank accounts of the signatory could be subject to inquiry by the Anti-Money Laundering Council or other investigative bodies.
Among the allegations in the impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is her failure to declare in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth the P30 million she earned as one of the counsels of the government in the arbitration case involving the expropriation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, when she was still private lawyer.
The non-declaration of assets in the SALN was the same ground that led to the impeachment and ouster of tCorona in 2012 under the Aquino administration. The Senate, sitting as impeachment trial court, had voted 20-3 and found him guilty of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
Sereno’s lawyers played down the allegation by arguing that she used the money to buy “modest home and modest vehicle” and declared them and all that was left in her SALN.
Congress will adjourn this week and resume on Nov. 13, giving Sereno a one-month break.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, House committee on justice chairman, said once the House of Representatives resumes its session, they will take up the determination of probable cause of the impeachment complaint.
“The hearings will resume after the break,” he said.
Last week, the committee on justice panel voted 25 against two, finding sufficient grounds to proceed with the hearings of the impeachment complaint against Sereno.
According to Umali, the panel will move on in the next stage to determine probable cause.
Meanwhile, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has been consolidating support for the impeachment case against Sereno, said Jo Perez of the group Filipino Alliance for Transparency and Empowerment.
“It seems that his investment in her impeachment is driven by something other than a desire to exact accountability—it seems that he is one of the people who stands to benefit from her impeachment,” Perez said.