More Supreme Court justices set to testify vs Sereno

MANILA, Philippines — After Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro testified against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno last week, two of her other colleagues in the Supreme Court (SC) and retired justice Arturo Brion are set to follow.

Those who promised to appear at the impeachment hearing on Dec. 11 are associate justices Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam and Brion as well as Court Administrator Midas Marquez, said Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on justice.

De Castro is also expected to attend.

Jardeleza will testify on the charge of lawyer-complainant Lorenzo Gadon that Sereno had unlawfully clustered the shortlisted nominees of the Judicial and Bar Council that was submitted to then president Benigno Aquino III to fill vacancies in the judiciary, Umali said.

Brion will bolster Jardeleza’s testimony and confirm his rebuke of Sereno, Umali added.

Tijam, Umali said, will confirm the allegation of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Gadon that Sereno deliberately delayed the SC decision to transfer the cases of Maute terrorists from Mindanao to any court either in Luzon or in the Visayas. 

It reportedly took the justice department’s request to be acted upon in 52 days. The SC ruled in late June but the resolution was issued by Sereno almost a month later, Aguirre and Gadon have claimed. 

Umali disclosed that they were working on a tight schedule, worsened by the weeklong holidays during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, which significantly lessened their 60 session days to resolve the impeachment case. 

“We lost, I think, about five session days during the holidays. We might take up the (whole of) January next year… we still have until May,” he said.

‘Stop forum hopping’

The embattled Sereno should stop hopping from one forum to another and attend the impeachment hearings at the House instead to personally refute the allegations against her, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said. 

The stalwart of the ruling PDP-Laban party gave the unsolicited advice after he observed that the SC chief has been making the rounds – which she never did in the past – at several events and has been making statements on the issues raised against her. 

“Publicity style ito at paraan para ilihis iyung totoong usapin dahil hindi na kayang komprontahin iyung mismong mga issues. (This is a publicity stunt on her part to divert from the issues because she can’t confront them head on),” Alvarez noticed. “Kitang-kita naman, manood na lang tayo ng committee hearing dahil doon naman lumalabas iyung talagang mga ebidensya. (This is obvious, so we should just watch the committee hearing because the evidence is clear against her).” 

“Mayroong mga nagte-testigo doon na hindi nga tama ang pamamaraan ng pagpapatakbo sa SC at siguro maging objective na lang tayo dahil nga gumagawa lang sila ng issues na wala namang kaugnayan doon sa mga charges (People have testified on the wrongdoing in the SC so we need to objectively look at the charges against her),” he added, referring to De Castro.

Sereno has repeatedly rejected the invitations extended by Umali and has sent her lawyers instead who were allowed to attend but not participate in the proceedings. 

Lawmakers said Sereno’s lawyers could course their queries through committee members. 

The camp of Sereno, including lawmakers allied with the Liberal Party of former president Aquino who appointed her as chief jurist in 2012, claimed De Castro was just “sour graping” since she was not chosen to replace former chief justice Renato Corona. 

Alvarez has accused Sereno of hopping from ABS-CBN to GMA-7 in an effort to seek sympathy from the public on the impeachment case filed against her.

“Obvious naman na nag TV hopping siya. Kung nakapagpa-interview nga siya in person sa TV networks, e bakit hindi siya umattend ng hearing sa committee on justice kung talagang wala siyang itinatago (She has been TV hopping. If she allows herself to be interviewed on TV why can’t she attend committee hearings if she has nothing to hide)?” the Davao del Norte congressman said.

The House leader was referring to the chief magistrate’s 45-minute interview with news anchor Karen Davila over ABS-CBN News Channel, and that of TV host Winnie Monsod in her Bawal ang Pasaway program on GMA-7 where Sereno even showed her residence.

Alvarez, whom Sereno claimed to have a “grudge” against her, has repeatedly stated that the SC chief should have known better that defense lawyers or resource persons are not allowed to speak, much less cross-examine witnesses at committee hearings

“Baliw pala siya. Para siyang hindi abogado. Alam naman niya iyung impeachment case… siya iyung ini-impeach, hindi iyung mga abogado niya. So personal ito, kailangan niyang humarap dito at magpaliwanag (She must have lost her senses. She is a lawyer. She is the one being impeached, not her lawyers, so she should personally appear to explain her side),” he told dzMM.

Sereno should defend herself as she is accorded due process, he added, refuting allegations the impeachment was something personal and pointing out that they could have just sent the case to the Senate if it were so.

The Speaker repeated his pronouncements that they could have impeached Sereno if they really wanted to, just like what the Aquino administration did to the late chief justice Corona, whose original Articles of Impeachment were all withdrawn at the Senate.

In the end, Corona was convicted in May 2012 for an offense that was not a ground for impeachment – a violation of the law on statement of assets, liabilities and net worth where an amendment or modification would normally suffice.

“Kung wala naman talagang basehan, bakit kami pupunta doon sa impeachment court? Magmumukha kaming gago doon. Paano namin siya ipo-prosecute doon? Iyun ang nangyari noong panahon ni Corona (If the accusations were baseless, why would we go to the impeachment court? We would look like fools. How can we prosecute her? This was what happened with Corona),” Alvarez said.

A total of 185 lawmakers – an overwhelming majority of whom reportedly did not read the complaint against Corona – signed the impeachment. Corona was indicted for tax evasion.

P200 M per senator for acquittal?

Senators would be offered P200 million each to acquit Sereno, Gadon alleged yesterday.

Gadon claimed he received information about the plan of a businessman to bribe the senators should the House impeach Sereno and submit the case to the Senate for trial.

“I received information, which I am still verifying, that an oligarch promised to bribe senators to acquit her. This is probably why she remains confident despite the strong evidence against her,” he claimed in Filipino.

But Gadon believes the senators would not allow such bribery because they are “dignified persons.” He also did not name the oligarch.

Gadon issued his statement after Alvarez said he believed Sereno was in serious trouble after De Castro’s testimony that the Chief Justice “misled” her for the ratification of an order and other issues.

He said Sereno could resort to diversionary tactics as a remedy for her troubled defense aggravated by her continued refusal to attend the impeachment proceedings by the House justice committee, led by Umali.

The camp of Sereno quickly slammed Gadon’s statement, calling it another “fictitious claim” of the lawyer.

Lawyer Josa Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, said Gadon’s latest claim is another product of his imagination meant to cover up the fact that his allegations were not supported by evidence and that he has to rely on the House committee on justice to find evidence for him.

“Like his impeachment complaint, attorney Gadon’s recent claims are another work of pure fiction. They are also utterly ridiculous,” she said.

Citing Sereno’s upright character, Deinla said the Chief Justice would not tolerate or even consider bribing impeachment judges, adding that she has never been involved in bribery or corruption. – Edu Punay