Chief Justice Sereno: Speed up proceedings

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has urged the House of Representatives to speed up the impeachment proceedings against her and bring the case before the Senate soon.

The call was made after the House justice committee yesterday approved the six articles of impeachment to be submitted for deliberations of the plenary for filing in the Senate.

Lawyer Josa Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, said the Chief Justice is eager to answer the charges in the impeachment trial before the upper chamber.

“The Chief Justice eagerly awaits the transmittal of the articles of impeachment to the Senate where she is ready to defend herself against the unfair, unjust and malicious allegations, which are the bases of the obviously biased impeachment proceedings conducted by the House committee on justice,” Deinla stressed.

The House panel, according to Deinla, should expedite the process and prove their case before the Senate, which, together with the House, has the “exclusive authority to discipline all impeachable officers for any impeachable offense.”

The lawyer alleged that the articles of impeachment approved by the committee chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali “consist of allegations that do not even constitute impeachable offenses.”

Voting 33-1, the House panel approved the six articles of impeachment against Sereno after voting earlier to find probable cause in the charges.

The committee wants the Chief Justice impeached for culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, corruption and other high crimes based on the six grounds, including the alleged non-filing of and non-disclosure of assets in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and misuse of government funds in purchasing her P5-million Land Cruiser service vehicle.

Deinla maintained that the Chief Justice has not done anything unconstitutional or impeachable to merit her removal from office, saying the truth is on her side.

“Our Chief Justice is ready to prove that there is no basis for those articles of impeachment. She believes she would be able to defend judicial independence with the support of the people,” she stressed.

Deinla said their camp is in the “advanced stage of preparation” for her impeachment trial at the Senate.

Dismissal of ouster petition sought

Meanwhile, Sereno yesterday sought the dismissal of a petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking her ouster over an invalid appointment in 2012.

She asked the high court in a 77-page comment to junk the quo warranto petition on a technicality, particularly for lack of jurisdiction and violation of the one-year prescription period for filing such case.

Through lawyers led by Alexander Poblador, the embattled Chief Justice argued that the SC has no jurisdiction and authority to remove her from office because the 1987 Constitution provides that she could only be ousted by impeachment in Congress as an impeachable official.

Citing Article XI, Section 2 of the Constitution, Sereno said impeachable officials – including herself and all justices of the SC – may only be removed from office upon impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court.

Sereno stressed that the Court “cannot take cognizance of or give due course to the (OSG petition) without running afoul of the plain dictates of the fundamental law and established judicial precedents.”

She said the high tribunal itself has consistently applied this constitutional provision as a limitation on its power to remove public officers.

Sereno further argued that the quo warranto case in the SC is preemptive of the pending impeachment proceedings in Congress and would deprive her of a chance to have her day in court.

“To rule otherwise, and to preempt the impeachment process by summarily ousting the Chief Justice via quo warranto, would be tantamount to overthrowing the Constitution itself,” read the answer.