Sereno may ask Supreme Court to stop House impeach hearing

MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is considering the possibility of seeking relief from her colleagues in the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the impeachment proceedings against her before Congress, her lead spokesman bared yesterday.

Sereno’s lawyer Carlo Cruz said there is a possibility of filing of a petition before the SC to stop the House of Representatives from further hearing the impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon.

“It’s an option, of course,” he said in a text message.

But Cruz said their camp would wait for the final decision of the House committee on justice on Sereno’s plea for her lawyers to cross-examine witnesses against her before pursuing such an option.

“There’s no plan yet to pursue it at this point. The Chief Justice and her lawyers shall make their assessment when the House committee on justice re-convenes on Nov. 20,” he explained.

Cruz revealed this after Sereno herself decried the violation of her constitutional right when the House panel rejected her plea for her lawyers to cross-examine witnesses in her impeachment case during a dialogue with Christian churches organized by the Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ last week. 

“It’s a basic right of every citizen to be defended by who she wants to defend her. If this can happen to a chief justice, it can happen to anyone. If my rights are not observed, nobody’s rights are safe in this country,” the SC chief was quoted as saying.

She also alleged that the witnesses “were being threatened” to invent stories against her.

A petition before the SC, however, could be “too risky” an option for Sereno to take, an insider told The STAR.

“It’s public knowledge already how there is lack of support or sympathy from the judiciary for the Chief Justice in her ordeal. There are even reports of fellow SC justices planning to testify against her. So, that plan might just further expose her lack of clout in the high court,” commented the source who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak for the SC.

The insider further cited the statement of Sereno’s camp that she would not want the judiciary to be involved in her ordeal because she wanted to spare the government branch from the political exercise.

Malacañang has called for her resignation to spare the judiciary further damage from the impeachment case. 

But Sereno’s camp rejected such call, saying that resignation has never been an option for the SC chief. They also claimed that such a call was proof that the charges against her have no basis and would not stand a Senate trial.

The House of Representatives committee on justice has found the complaint sufficient in form and substance. It is set to start hearing the charges on Nov. 20 to determine existence of probable cause and decide whether to transmit the case to the Senate for trial.

Gadon’s complaint accused Sereno of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.

The grounds included alleged misdeclaration in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth by supposedly hiding her P30-million earning as government counsel in the arbitration case involving the expropriation of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Sereno should confront the witnesses in the impeachment case filed against her at the House of Representatives if she has really nothing to hide. 

Alvarez said Sereno should attend the committee hearings for her to cross-examine the witnesses, which is covered by the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings of the House.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chair of the House committee on justice, said his panel might conduct the hearing on Sereno’s impeachment when Congress resumes session on Nov. 20 after the Philippines’ hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and related meetings, instead of the Nov. 13 original schedule.

“Resignation is the sole prerogative of the person subject of the impeachment,” Rep. Gus Tambunting of Parañaque, chairman of the House games and amusement committee, said in light of the Palace’s unsolicited advice to the chief magistrate to resign from her post. – With Delon Porcalla