House panel to decide Sereno case this week

THE CHAIRMAN of the House of Representatives’ committee on justice said his committee will vote this week on establishing probable cause in the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno.

The vote originally scheduled this Wednesday but reset to Thursday is two weeks ahead of the congressional recess on March 21, by which time the House plenary would have tackled Ms. Sereno’s impeachment if it comes to that.

In a radio interview, Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo V. Umali, committee chairman, said the committee’s legal team met last Thursday to “organize” the articles of impeachment.

Ms. Sereno is accused of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes. But Mr. Umali said not all 27 charges under those four grounds. “Siguro ’pag pinasadahan mo, baka mayroong ibang pare-pareho so siguro it will fall under one allegation or charge,” he told DZBB. (Maybe if you scrutinize the charges, perhaps some of them are similar, so it will fall under one allegation or charge.)

In a separate phone interview, he said, “Actually lahat mayroon ( all these charges may be readied). Hindi ko pa alam ( I don’t know yet)...which will really stand out and be voted upon.”

In his radio interview, Mr. Umali said the committee is looking to include Ms. Sereno’s psychiatric evaluation as a ground for impeachment, under betrayal of public trust.

“Dahil unang- una ay hindi siya karapat- dapat doon. Napalusutan niya ’ yung JBC at ngayon buong Korte Suprema, so ito’y isang bagay na will establish that she is not fit to continue in that kind of office,” he said. ( Because, first of all, she does not deserve that. She slipped past the JBC and now the whole Supreme Court, so this is one of the things that will establish that she is not fit to continue in that kind of office.)

He said the Chief Justice’s “psychological make-up...would really connect to her actuations” in several charges raised in the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo G. Gadon.

Last Friday, the Psychological Association of the Philippines ( PAP) criticized the “use of the psychological assessment conducted in 2010” as a “misuse of those results.”

Reacting to the group’s statements, Mr. Umali said in the phone interview, “’ Yun nga ’ yung dine- determine namin sa ( That’s what we were trying to determine in the) impeachment, if she’s qualified or not.”

He also said the committee has a list of 40 candidates it would recommend to form part of the 11- member prosecution team when the Senate holds an impeachment trial.

“’ Yung amin ay kinukuha lang namin lahat ng lawyers tapos ito na titingnan namin, ’ yung litigation experience kung mayroon, at siguro pangatlo, depende kung anong discipline ’ yun ano, kasi depende sa lalabas na article kung anong discipline ang kailangan,” Mr. Umali explained, adding that House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas will “definitely be part of the prosecution team.” ( We’re considering all the lawyers, their litigation experience if they have, then perhaps third, the disciplines needed, depending on the articles of impeachment.) —