Umali warns Gadon after allegation flops at hearing

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Reynaldo Umali (Oriental Mindoro) admonished lawyer Larry Gadon after resource speakers swiftly denied one of his claims against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. 

 

On Monday's hearing, Umali, chair of the House's justice panel, told Gadon off, saying that, as the accuser, he should be able to substantiate his claims.

 

"It's not good that there is one who is lying, one who is not saying the truth. Like I said [if you are lying], this is an affront to the mandate and powers of this committee," Umali said.

 

The panel was discussing Gadon's claim that Sereno committed obstruction of justice when she ordered, through an SC official, the judges handling Sen. Leila De Lima's cases not to issue warrants of arrest.

 

De Lima has been detained at Camp Crame for close to a year.

 

Judges Amelia Fabros Corpuz (Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205) and Patria Manalastas De Leon (Branch 206) were quick to say there was no truth to Gadon's claim.

 

Deputy Court Administrator Lind Aldecoa-Delorino admitted that she did call Corpuz and De Leon but strongly denied giving instructions or even influencing the two judges.

 

"For us, either you (Gadon) are wasting our time here for including this (claim) in the charges that have required the time of this committee, or maybe you hold the truth, as pointed out by [Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia (Cebu)]," Umali said.

 

READ: Muntinlupa judges deny Sereno called them to stop De Lima arrest

 

Umali lamented that so much time, money, and effort are being wasted if the charges elevated to their panel are fake.

 

The panel has entered its 14th day of deliberation of Gadon's verified complaint that contains 27 acts of Sereno that, Gadon said, are impeachable. 

Gadon told the panel that he was "outside the gates of the SC" when he heard the story about someone from the SC calling the judges in Muntinlupa to not issue the arrest warrant.

 

"I was at the waiting area, at the gate and I heard some people—they were many—employees from the SC, they are wearing their IDs and their uniform," Gadon told the panel.

 

The lawyer said that the employees approached him and told him the story.

 

Asked whether he validated what he heard, Gadon said: "When the delay in the issuance of the warrants of arrest by the two honorable judges it somehow confirmed the information that I got."

 

Gadon, as complainant, is supposed to have first-hand knowledge of the allegations he has thrown at Sereno. 

The two judges, however, said that the delays in the issuance of the arrest warrant was due to the voluminous documents and De Lima's pending petition at the SC challenging their jurisdiction over her case.

 

Corpuz, who was earlier grilled by Rep. Vicente Veloso (Leyte), insisted that it took her months to issue the arrest because she studied all the documents submitted to her sala.

 

Manalastas, for her part, noted that De Lima's camp filed a motion to quash that challenged her jurisdiction over the case.

 

She issued a warrant after the SC ruled that the local courts have jurisdiction the drug charges against the senator.

 

When lawmakers pointed out that it only took days for Judge Juanita Guerrero to issue a warrant, De Leon responded: "You can see how judges work. We are very independent. She appricated it that way. I appreciated it (the case) this way."

 

She said "judges have different appreciations."