Speaker challenges Sereno to face accusers

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday challenged Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to face her impeachment case squarely and personally attend the hearings at the committee on justice of the House of Representatives. 

“When your defense is weak, you will be afraid to appear in the hearing. But if you know that you have done nothing wrong, you will not be afraid to face your accusers. It’s as simple as that,” the leader of the 293-member House said. “They’re raising so many issues. They’re just trying to divert the issue. Speaking as a lawyer, I would simply argue on the merits if I had a strong case,” the Davao del Norte congressman added. 

“Please tell her (Sereno) to just argue on the merits and appear before the committee on justice,” Alvarez said, serving notice to defense lawyers that they will not be allowed to appear at the committee hearing should Sereno snub the proceedings. 

“If Sereno ignores our summons, we will continue with the committee hearing. We will consider the evidence, all the official documents, as we will be the prosecutor in the impeachment case in the Senate,” he said in a radio interview. 

“I will not allow her lawyers to appear at the committee hearing. They have no business being there. They’re not the ones being impeached. If Sereno were there, then they can accompany her,” the Speaker said. 

“If the principal is not there, what’s their business attending the hearing if they were not invited?” he asked. 

Reacting to a query on the reported move by Sereno’s lawyers to elevate the case to the Supreme Court, Alvarez said they “should know that Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over impeachment cases.”

CJ calls for rule of law

Sereno yesterday upheld the need for the rule of law, urging her fellow magistrates to fight for the judiciary’s independence and not be swayed by politics. 

She made the statement in her speech at the inauguration of the Valenzuela government’s new Regional Trial Court building that cost the city government P64 million and the SC P17 million.

In a thinly veiled speech before fellow judges, the Chief Justice urged them to fight for the judiciary’s independence from political agenda.

Her impeachment case before the House of Representatives gained traction due to support from allies of the administration. Even presidential spokesperson Harry Roque advised the Chief Justice to step down and spare the SC.

Sereno has said she would not resign.

“My fellow judges, when we took our oaths of office, we also took difficult vows (to uphold) the Constitution and the rule of law first, dictated (never by) political winds but by our conscience and the power of our convictions,” Sereno said.

Sereno admitted there are challenging times ahead, but she still urged judges “to seriously guard our independence as jurists, notwithstanding the political consequences.”

“These are challenging times and it’s difficult to keep on saying no to the powers that be, but this is part of the sacred trust for which we have made our vows,” Sereno said.

After the program, she refused interviews with the media. But in an interview with ANC’s Headstart which aired yesterday, Sereno said she is ready to prove her innocence, and that the complainant lawyer Larry Gadon committed perjury because he has no personal knowledge of the allegations.

Sereno is accused of not declaring her true wealth, of her supposed extravagant lifestyle as Chief Justice and of allegedly bypassing her colleagues in the issuance of administrative orders.

She has denied the allegations and cautioned that the impeachment proceedings should not be used for personal vengeance, in an apparent reference to Alvarez’s supposed hand in the impeachment. 

Sereno was government counsel in the case against Alvarez over the Phil. International Air Terminals Company Inc. (Piatco)’s build-operate-transfer deal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3), which was entered into when the Speaker was Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager.

The ombudsman has dismissed the graft complaint against Alvarez in connection with the deal.

Duterte, Alvarez behind impeachment?

Sereno yesterday accused President Duterte and Alvarez of having a hand in the bid to oust her from the top judicial post.

In her interview with Headstart, the Chief Justice said she believes that Duterte wants her out as evident in his earlier public pronouncements.

“The last statement that we had from the presidential spokesperson is that I should leave my office, so I think I understand,” she said, referring to the recent call of Roque for her to resign.

Sereno likewise cited the earlier pronouncements of Duterte against her.

“Of course everybody knows what he said during those moments and I think at one time, he thought that Gadon’s complaints regarding my extravagant lifestyle had some basis and then he kept quiet about it. So let us just say that I understand that he has also asked me and the ombudsman to resign at the same time,” Sereno said, referring to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

“So does he have a hand in this impeachment? Well, I go by his official pronouncement and I wish him success as a President but I hope he understands that checks and balances are very important for any democracy,” she said out.

Last September, Duterte dared Sereno and Morales to resign with him. Last month, the President also mentioned plans to file an impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice for alleged corruption.

Sereno admitted she has no idea of the motive of the President, adding that they never had any personal conflict.

“We have had no personal skirmish at all. The only time I remember that he made a remark against me was in connection with the letter I wrote to him in August of 2016, requesting that due process be afforded judges,” she said.

“Basically I was really emphasizing the need to defend the institutions and to allow the institutions to conduct their own investigations of their errant members because the moment you announce the names of judges, you basically take them out of their functions,” she said.

Sereno believes that Alvarez also wants her ousted from her post as she appealed to top elected officials not to abuse the impeachment process for “vengeance or personal agenda.” 

“I hope everybody involved rises to the requirements of the Constitution that this should not be done for personal vengeance or for personal agenda, but this is only a mechanism for accountability,” she said, adding that the impeachment process should be done to “preserve, not destroy, democratic institutions.”

“I testified against the onerous terms of the contract that was signed between the government and PairCargo (later named Piatco), and Speaker Alvarez at the time was part of the committee that approved the terms of reference for the contract,” she said.

Sereno said Alvarez was implicated for awarding the NAIA-3 build-operate-transfer contract to Piatco when he was general manager of MIAA.

In 2001, a plunder case was filed against Alvarez and other officials by the MIAA-NAIA Association of Service Contractors after he was accused of gaining from the contract.

“Speaker Alvarez had a lot to do with the result of that bidding, and one of the cases in fact that was filed against him was precisely for the conflict of interest situation that he finds himself in. A company that his wife owned was the subcontractor for the construction (of NAIA-3),” Sereno said.

As reported earlier, the ombudsman dismissed the graft complaint against Alvarez.

Asked if her testimony against Alvarez could be one of the reasons why he is pushing for her impeachment, Sereno said: “This is a matter that my lawyers are still considering. Whether it should be raised, and at which point it should be raised. I will have to listen to the lawyers whether that will be brought up.”

While she believes that the heads of the executive branch and the House are supporting her ouster, Sereno vowed to prove her innocence in the impeachment proceedings before the House.

She stressed that Gadon has not proven any of the impeachable offenses alleged in the complaint.

“Actually it is not that difficult because my conscience is clear; it is not very difficult for me in a sense because I just have to keep on telling the truth,” she said as she also accused Gadon of perjury.

Sereno reiterated that she had faithfully disclosed her earnings in her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), denying the allegation that she did not declare her earnings from the arbitration case of Piatco.

Sereno said Gadon was “completely erroneous” in saying that she was paid P37 million for the case. She said she received P30.3 million.

“That already is an indication of a perjurious statement he has made and then he said that I did not pay the correct taxes. How would he know that? I paid P8.67 million out of the P30.3 million which amounts to 32 percent of the taxable income,” she said.

The Chief Justice also argued that there is nothing illegal with the purchase of her P5-million Toyota Land Cruiser, saying a circular from the Department of Budget and Management “expressly authorized” the purchase of a vehicle with high engine displacement to allow for bullet-proofing.

The SC chief lamented how the impeachment case against her would impact on the country’s democracy.

“If they can do this to the Chief Justice – fabricate charges, gang up, some say – if they can do this to a Chief Justice and deny her basic constitutional rights, who is safe in this country?” she said.

The House committee on justice has already found the complaint sufficient in form and substance and in grounds. It is set to start hearing the charges tomorrow to determine the existence of probable cause and decide whether or not to transmit the case to the Senate for trial. 

It invited Sereno to attend the hearing.

‘CJ must cross-examine witnesses herself’

Defense lawyers of the Chief Justice may be allowed to speak at the committee on justice of the House, but not to cross-examine witnesses, lawmakers said yesterday. 

“Out of courtesy, puwede silang magsalita pero (they can speak as representatives of the) Chief Justice. I don’t think it should be allowed as of this moment,” Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin told reporters in a news briefing at the House media center. 

Her colleague and fellow Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia, who is also a lawyer, agreed. 

“I believe that they may be allowed (to speak). But as you see, nakita niyo naman sa (as you’ve seen in the) committee, it really is a collective decision. And collective decisions may, in fact, even change,” Garcia, the former Cebu governor, said. 

“At this point in time, we do not wish to pre-empt the committee and our colleagues kung i-allow ba natin o hindi (if we allow them or not). Kasi that has to be fully discussed, debated upon and voted on by the members,” Garcia said.

The committee is headed by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali.

Sereno’s lawyers earlier submitted two letters, as well as a formal motion, to assert the Chief Justice’s right to cross-examine witnesses against her through her counsel.

Umali said the panel will only allow such cross-examination if Sereno does it herself.

Reports said two SC psychiatrists have expressed their willingness to testify against Sereno. They were career employees in the judiciary but were allegedly dismissed after they released their findings that she flunked her psychiatric examination.

The confidential report is with the Judicial and Bar Council which Sereno heads, and whose ex-officio members include Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, a senator and a congressman, among others. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Edu Punay