Chief Justice, CA presiding justice flag House show-cause order on CA justices
CHIEF JUSTICE Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno and Court of Appeals (CA) Presiding Justice Andres B. Reyes, Jr. on Wednesday flagged the House of Representatives committee-issued show-cause order against three justices of the CA who directed the release of detained Ilocos Norte provincial employees.
In a joint statement yesterday, Ms. Sereno and Mr. Reyes asked the House committee on good government and public accountability to “reconsider” its show-cause order against CA Special Fourth Division Justices Stephen Cruz, Edwin Sorongon, and Nina Antonio-Valenzuela.
During the congressional probe on Tuesday on the alleged misuse of Ilocos Norte’s tobacco funds, members of the said House committee approved a motion by Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo V. Umali to issue a show-cause order against the three justices of the CA Special Fourth Division, who earlier ruled to grant a petition for writ of habeas corpus by six Ilocos Norte officials grilled by the House regarding the said funds.
Ms. Sereno and Mr. Reyes, instead, asked the House of Representatives to exhaust all legal remedies under the Constitution, law and the Rules of Court before ordering the three CA justices to explain why they should not be cited in contempt by the Committee.
Ms. Sereno and Mr. Reyes further held that, “Without inquiring into the merits of the issues currently pending before the Special Fourth Division and subject of the House Committee’s inquiry, we note that the House of Representatives is not without any speedy legal remedy that is consistent with the separation of powers should it disagree with the action of the Court of Appeals (CA), such as an appeal.”
The case stemmed from CA’s Fourth Division issuing the release of the six employees of the Ilocos Norte government and a showcause order against the House Committee Sergeant-At-Arms Roland M. Detabali for detaining the six.
The House, however, continued to detain the six employees, namely: treasurer Josephine Calajate, accountant Edna Batulayan, budget officer Evangeline Tabulog, bids and awards committee head Pedro Agcaoili, as well as Genedine Jambaro and Encarnacion Gaor of the provincial treasurer’s office.
Mr. Cruz, who on Monday faced the Judicial and Bar Council for his application for a seat in the SC, said the CA Fourth Division was “only doing its job” and maintained that they issued the writ of habeas corpus “to determine if the detention was legal. We want the bodies to be presented to the court, and the person who is detaining them, and determine whether it is legal. Because if it is legal, we will dismiss the petition.”