SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez on Friday urged Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to appear at the impeachment proceedings against her by the House committee on justice to defend herself instead of using the media.
Alvarez made the statement after Sereno on Thursday attended a Mass at the Parish of Holy Sacrifice in Quezon City and later a youth forum at the University of the Philippines, where she vowed to resist the calls for her resignation and insisted that she had done nothing wrong. Her statements in both events were reported in the media.
“Ang sinasabi ko, dahil nga hindi siya nag-a-appear doon sa hearing, talagang paano niya didepensahan yung sarili niya hindi ba? Tapos maglalabas na lang siya ng mga statement sa media, hindi naman valid yun,” Alvarez said in a radio interview.
He said it would be best for Sereno to appear before the House justice committee, which he said was the proper forum to disprove the allegations against her.
“Kaya kailangan talaga siyang pumunta doon para i-disprove yung mga allegations at yung mga ebidensya na inilahad laban sa kanya. Alam naman niya yan dahil abugado rin iyan, nagpa-practice,” Alvarez said.
The House leadership earlier said it would respect Sereno’s right as a respondent whether or not she attended the impeachment proceedings.
Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, the complainant against Sereno, has expressed confidence the testimony of Associate Justice Teresita de Castro is enough to warrant Sereno’s impeachment.
De Castro on Wednesday testified at the House justice committee hearing and confirmed that Sereno not only altered a Temporary Restraining Order but also created the Judicial Decentralized Office in Region 7 contrary to the resolutions the high court had approved.
Alvarez declined to make a personal assessment of the weight of De Castro’s testimony and that of Court Administrator Midas Marquez, but he said the justice committee would proceed with its job of evaluating the additional evidence against Sereno.
“Maganda naman ang testimonya ni Justice Teresita de Castro at ni Administrator Midas Marquez. At marami pa rin kaming ipapatawag po na testigo at isu-subpoena na mga dokumento,” Alvarez said.
But Alvarez said the proceedings in the House justice committee would grind to a halt if Sereno resigned.