GMA not behind Sereno impeachment case — lawyer

MANILA, Philippines — Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has nothing to do with the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, lawyer Lorenzo Gadon said yesterday.

Gadon said he is seeking the ouster of Sereno as a personal advocacy and not upon the wishes of Arroyo to retaliate for her incarceration during the previous administration.

While he admitted close ties with Arroyo being her former lawyer, Gadon belied the allegation hurled by political analyst and professor Ramon Casiple last week.

Gadon also slammed Casiple for dragging the name of the late chief justice Renato Corona in the impeachment bid against Sereno.

“While I do not deny my closeness with PGMA (Arroyo) for being one of her lawyers and I do not deny my closeness with the Corona family, such elements do not obliterate the undeniable fact that the impeachment case againt Sereno has grounds to stand on,” the lawyer said in a statement.

Gadon noted that Casiple’s theory, which could only come from a “fiction writer” and a product of his “wild imagination,” is an insult to the members of the House of Representatives committee on justice who upheld the basis of the impeachment complaint.

“We cannot cast doubt on the minds of the House members to arrive on such findings, for aside from their experience, some of them are seasoned lawyers and Bar topnotchers,” he pointed out.

Gadon denied the claim of Sereno’s camp that he has publicly admitted that some of the grounds cited in his complaint are not impeachable.

With a 25-2 vote, the House committee on justice upheld the impeachment complaint against Sereno.

If the panel finds probable cause in the complaint, the case will be forwarded to the House plenary for deliberations. Should the plenary approve the finding of probable cause by the committee, the case against Sereno will be filed before the Senate for impeachment trial.    

Gadon accused Sereno of culpable violations of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.

Among the allegations in the impeachment complaint against the chief magistrate is her failure to declare in the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) since appointment in the high court in 2010 the P30 million she earned as one of the government’s counsels in the arbitration case involving the expropriation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 when she was still a private lawyer.

The non-declaration of assets in SALN was the same ground that led to the impeachment and ouster of Corona in 2012.

Apart from misdeclaration in SALN, the other grounds for impeachment against Sereno include her supposed extravagant spending of judicial funds by purchasing a P5-million Toyota Land Cruiser and traveling on first-class flights.

Sereno is also accused of sitting on applications for promotions of judicial personnel supposedly to reserve key posts for members of her staff until they meet the eligibilities.

The complainant also cited as basis Sereno’s order in 2012 to reopen a regional constitutional administrative office in Cebu without the approval of the Supreme Court, which was later on revoked by the SC.

Erap backs GMA’s Senate bid

Meanwhile, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said over the weekend that he would suport Arroyo if she decides to run for senator in 2019. 

Arroyo is higly qualified for a Senate seat, Estrada said.

He said his political party, Pwersa ng Masa Pilipino, may adopt Arroyo as one of its senatorial candidates.

“I will endorse her should she decide to run for senator,” he said.

In October 2007, Arroyo pardoned Estrada, setting aside his conviction and life sentence on plunder charges. 

SC asked to oust Morales

Meanwhile, the SC has been asked to order Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to immediately vacate her post for supposedly overstaying by five years.

Former Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) general manager Al Vitangcol III filed the petition seeking Morales’ ouster on Oct. 13.

Vitangcol urged the SC to declare that the term of office of Morales had expired on Nov. 30, 2012.

Morales had approved the filing of graft charges against Vitangcol before the Sandiganbayan over his alleged attempt to extort $30 million from a Czech light rail vehicles supplier during his stint as MRT chief.

He also asked the high court to compel her to cease and desist from further discharging her functions as ombudsman.

Morales replaced Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned on May 6, 2011 to avoid an impeachment trial in the Senate, leaving an
unexpired term until Nov. 30, 2012.

Vitangcol said the intent of the law was for the successor of Gutierrez to serve the remainder of her term, not for a fresh term of seven years. – With Jose Rodel Clapano