Umali: Sereno absence leaves impeachment complaint unrefuted

MANILA, Philippines — With Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno continuously refusing to attend hearings on the impeachment complaint against her, Rep. Reynaldo Umali (Oriental Mindoro) warned that the House panel will vote on whether there is probable cause in the case without her defense.

"Respondent's refusal to participate in this impeachment proceedings will leave our members with no recourse [but] to vote on the existence of probable cause considering that the charges will remain uncontroverted," Umali said.

Umali  is chairman of the House of Representative's Committee on Justice, which is handling the impeachment case filed by lawyer Larry Gadon.

Citing Associate Justice Noel Tijam's earlier statement, Umali stressed that Sereno should "respect and participate in the impeachment process and defend ourselves and protect the institution because if she continues to ignore and refuse to participate in the impeachment process, ergo, she is clearly liable for culpable violation of constitution."

He added that the panel's members owe it not only to Sereno, but also to their "constituents to determine if the chief justice is still fit to continue holding her high office."

Umali stressed that the House panel has a continuing invitation for Sereno to attend the hearing, which is a "golden opportunity" for the chief justice to defend herself.

Should she continue to refuse to attend, Umali said that the members of the committee "will be constrained to consider those matters presented to the committee which will remain unrefuted and unrebutted."

On November 22 last year, the House panel voted 30-4 dismissing the appeal of Sereno to allow her counsels to cross-examine witnesses, on her behalf, in the impeachment proceeding against her.

Her lawyers, after the voting, asked to be allowed to leave the Congress hall.

The hearing on Monday marks the 8th hearing of the House panel to determine whether the complaint filed by lawyer Larry Gadon has probable cause to impeach Sereno.

Present for today's hearing are Associate Justices Samuel Martires, Lucas Bersamin and Diosado Peralta.