MANILA, Philippines - The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) yesterday filed with the House of Representatives an impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno for allegedly making unilateral decisions in the Supreme Court (SC).
“The SC is a collegial body. She is not a dictator who can just decide on judiciary matters on her own,” VACC chairman Dante Jimenez told journalists as he laid out the grounds for the petition to remove the Chief Justice.
The complaint, received by House secretary-general Cesar Pareja, is not considered valid yet because it lacks an endorser who should be an incumbent House member.
Sereno has yet to respond to the issues hurled against her.
SC spokesman Theodore Te said the Chief Justice would answer the allegations at the appropriate time and venue.
“There will be an appropriate time for comments on things like those. This is not that time,” Te said in a text message to The STAR.
Jimenez appealed to the 294 House members to look at the merits of the case. “We are here not begging, but asking the congressmen to take a look at the merits of our case. We are hoping that they will not prejudge this case.”
He said Sereno is liable for betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution for appointing a lawyer of her choice, allowing her staffers to travel abroad and creating an office in Western Visayas – all without the full court’s approval.
“The Chief Justice didn’t seek the consensus of her colleagues, or of the majority in the en banc. The SC is composed of 15 justices and not just one justice,” lawyer Solomon Lumba said as he expressed confidence they would be able to “achieve political justice.”
Jimenez said Sereno – appointed in 2012 and who will retire in 2030 – is part of the reason the wheels of justice grind slowly, mainly her refusal to fill vacant key positions in the SC.
“We victims of crimes have long been longing for justice, and yet you failed to fill those positions. That is most probably why we have a rotten, slow and corrupt judicial system in this country,” he said.
Jimenez’s colleague, lawyer Eligio Mallari of the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc., told journalists that they expect to have one-third of the 294 House-members endorse their impeachment complaint, or a “minimum” of 97 for it to be sent to the Senate for trial.
Former Negros Oriental congressman Jacinto Paras expressed support for the group.
“I believe in the strength of the complaint, especially since all these internal issues will be authenticated by the SC justices themselves, once they are called to testify,” he said.
The second complainant, lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, has yet to file a similar complaint against Sereno.
Gadon, a supporter of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is expected to use as basis for his complaint Sereno’s service vehicle, an P8.1-million bulletproof Toyota Land Cruiser.
The vehicle was procured for P5.1 million early this year and delivered to the SC three months ago. Sereno did not immediately use the vehicle as she wanted it to be bulletproofed first, which required an additional P3 million.
Of the 15 SC justices, only Sereno has a new vehicle as her colleagues continue to use their old service vehicles.
None of her predecessors – Andres Narvasa, Hilario Davide, Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno and the late Renato Corona - used a luxury vehicle.
SC justices, upon their appointments, are issued a service van and another sedan for official use.
Sereno has been using a Hyundai Starex and a Toyota Camry since her appointment in 2012.
In a press conference last week, Gadon told journalists that Sereno’s purchase of a luxury vehicle using SC funds was “unreasonable, whimsical and a waste of funds.”
“Even if such procurement passed through the Commission on Audit, this is still unwise government spending especially since there are almost 200 petitions or survivorship benefits of families of late justices and judges seeking share of judicial funds,” he said.
Gadon also accused Sereno of failing to declare in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) the millions in earnings she made during her stint as a lawyer of the Philippine International Airport Terminals Co. (Piatco) in a case involving the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3).
In her 2016 SALN, the SC chief declared a net worth of P24.2 million, which was P2.76 million higher than her net worth in the previous year.
Sereno worked in the government’s legal team led by retired SC Justice Florentino Feliciano in an arbitration case involving the NAIA 3 expropriation.
Records from a case involving the payment of attorney’s fees, which reached the Court of Appeals, showed that Sereno earned at least $336,287.66 or more than P16 million for her legal services.
The alleged non-declaration of assets in the SALN was the same ground cited for the impeachment of the late chief justice Renato Corona by congressional allies of the previous administration.
Early this month, Sereno’s colleague in the SC questioned her administrative orders, particularly the appointment of a Philippine Judicial Academy (Philja) official and provision of travel allowances for her staff.
Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro asked their colleagues to review Sereno’s orders, which she said should have their prior approval as a collegial body. ?De Castro assailed the appointment of lawyer Brenda Jay Mendoza as Philja chief of office for the Philippine Mediation Center, which she said violated an administrative order requiring approval of the SC as a collegial body for the post.?She also assailed Sereno’s grant of foreign travel allowance to members of her staff without the required approval from the full court.
De Castro also questioned the delay in the approval of appointments for vacant SC positions pending before Sereno’s office. – With Edu Punay