Sereno calls for dismissal of impeachment complaint

CHIEF JUSTICE Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno called for the “dismissal” of the impeachment complaint filed against her by lawyer Larry Gadon, saying it was “based not on authentic records, much less personal knowledge” but “on conflated hearsay derived from news reports.”

“This is nothing short of an impeachment exercise based on fake news,” Ms. Sereno said in a statement, which is part of her 86- page reply to the complaint that her lawyers submitted to the House committee on justice on Monday, Sept. 25.

“( T) he complaint should be dismissed not only because the charges are totally false but also because they do not constitute the grounds for impeachment under the Constitution,” she said.

Also, Ms. Sereno said the House of Representatives would be abusing its power “when impeachment is done without sufficient legal and factual basis.”

“If the grounds for impeachment of the Chief Justice can be trivialized to include any ground which Congress may consider, the fate of the Judiciary would be subjected to the whims of Congress,” Ms. Sereno stated in her reply.

She said the abuse of power by the Legislative branch “would in effect place a coequal branch at its mercy and imperil the very existence of our democratic form of government — a government which rests on the principle of independence and equality of the three great branches of Government.”

The Chief Justice likewise cautioned the House against Mr. Gadon’s call for the chamber to investigate a coequal branch of government “under the guise of substantiating his false claim.” — interaksyon.com