House sees Sereno impeachment by March

 MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives may elevate the impeachment complaint lawyer Lorenzo Gadon filed against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno to the Senate by the last week of March, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez disclosed.

“Before we go on break (for the Holy Week), we might be able to file it because we have already started (drafting) the articles of impeachment,” Alvarez said in Filipino during a press conference in Iloilo City last week.

He advised Sereno not to be impatient or get frustrated as she will definitely be given her day in her preferred venue – the Senate impeachment court.

“I think she wants it rushed to the Senate where she thinks she has the numbers. But for me, let us do this properly… people are watching us (on TV). Her accusers are presenting their evidence and her colleagues have spoken. This is the first time in the history of the Supreme Court,” Alvarez said.

Her psychiatrist, he added, would also appear before the committee to shed light on whether or not Sereno met the minimum requirements to become chief justice.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House committee on justice, earlier said the impeachment complaint is just a matter of formality following the strong belief of Alvarez that the issues raised against Sereno stand on strong and solid ground.

In last week’s hearing, at least two SC officials said Sereno’s acquisition of a P5.1-million Toyota Land Cruiser might have violated the Government Procurement Reform Act.=

“It was already pre-determined, your honor,” Ma. Carina Cunanan, procurement head and assistant chief of SC’s administrative services, told the committee.

When questioned, she conceded it was a “directive” from the Chief Justice’s camp but downplayed the infraction.

“We had to ask the office of the end user what vehicle they would prefer in the event we procure a vehicle. So it was them who said Land Cruiser,” Cunanan recalled.

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas pointed out that, under existing procurement laws, preferring a brand in biddings is strictly prohibited and that only specifications should be stated in the notices to be fair to other equally reliable brands.

Although there was already an endorsement to get a Land Cruiser, lawyer Thelma Bahia, head of the SC bids and awards committee, said they did not specify the brand and just stated the specifications when the procurement of vehicle notice was posted.

“That’s how you skirt the law,” Fariñas said as Bahia confirmed that only supplier Toyota Makati showed up during the bidding.

Gadon claimed he has proof that Sereno violated the procurement law.

“The initiatory document, the first endorsement clearly states Toyota Land Cruiser, even the color pearl white, even the engine displacement and the amount. It’s attached in the records your honor,” he told the lawmakers.

ABS party-list Rep. Eugene de Vera said that the P6-million budget the SC prepared for the purchase of vehicles was specifically meant for the purchase of a Toyota Land Cruiser. Apart from the Land Cruiser, Sereno is using another vehicle, a 2011 Hyundai Starex Gold.

‘Personal opinions’

Lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, downplayed the testimonies of six high court justices, saying these were not enough to impeach the chief magistrate because they are “based on purely personal opinions.”

“Most of the things they have said are disagreements with the Chief Justice on how the rules of the Supreme Court would be interpreted. Some of them are complaints about management or maybe leadership style,” Lacanilao pointed out.

The SC justices who testified before the House committee on justice were Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Samuel Martirez.

Lacanilao claimed that some incumbent justices had an axe to grind because Sereno “leapfrogged over other senior associate justices” and would serve as the high court’s chief for 18 years or until she reaches 70, the mandatory age of retirement.

He was disappointed that the justices were allowing themselves to be part of a process that is threatening the independence of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government.

“We feel like this is a problem with the independence of the Supreme Court now because they (justices) have gone to Congress and laid themselves out,” Lacanilao said in a statement.

“In fact, many of them appeared in public and did not appear well. The mystique, mystery of being a Supreme Court justice is gone because some of these justices have already come out and shown they are also weak and have personal grudges they cannot overcome. They have personal issues against the Chief Justice,” he added.

Despite repeated calls for her to resign, Lacanilao said the Chief Justice is staying put and would continue to fight for judicial independence even if attacks against her at the ongoing impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives have gone “below the belt.”

“Officials of Congress have asked her to resign. We feel it’s below the belt. This is just a squeeze play for her to resign… That’s not going to happen… We will ask Congress to actually prove any complaint that they have and (we will face them) in the Senate, and we know we have a strong case,” Lacanilao said. – With Evelyn Macairan