Oral arguments

I’m not a lawyer, but there are issues involving legal matters that interest me, as, I am sure, others too. The case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno particularly interests me. Charges have been filed against her, the chief one being her supposed failure to file her correct statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), which to those opposed to her, is grave reason to nullify her appointment to the High Tribunal. Simultaneously, a high legal representative of the government has filed a quo warranto petition with the Supreme Court, seeking to invalidate the CJ’s appointment on the basis of the alleged missing SALNs.

So far, the five Supreme Court associate justices who testified against her during the House committee hearings, are currently engaged in oral arguments with CJ Sereno at the hearing of the SC in Baguio City. They are Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam.

I believe a majority vote in the SC will either save or throw out the CJ. In due time, we will know who in addition to the five who want her dismissed are, and those who think it should be Congress who will decide her fate – by impeachment.

My last column touched on the view of outsiders who oppose the filing of the quo warranto petition in the Supreme Court, as this responsibility, they believe, is constitutionally defined as the domain of the Senate.

For now, allow me to mention Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, who expressed some wonderment while interpellating Alex Poblador, Sereno’s lead counsel: “If I follow the theory… then whoever is the solicitor general would… have the ability to wield a sword over all our collective heads, over all our individual heads, and on that basis, therefore impair the integrity of the court, as a court… The OSG can latch on to any imputation of any crime involving moral turpitude and on that basis, initiate a quo warranto proceeding against any justice and have him removed… arguably, you can make a case against any sitting justice and have him removed.”

* * * Senator Richard Gordon expressed, in his own colorful style, his view on the Sereno case during an interview with Karen Davila in her television program “Headstart.”

Answering Karen’s question on whether the Supreme Court can remove Chief Justice Sereno, Gordon said, “She can only be removed by impeachment. All these intramurals are a suasion. (The dictionary defines suasion as the act of advising, urging, or attempting to persuade.) To me, that’s noise, I don’t like to listen to it.”

“I did not like the impeachment of Chief Justice(Renato) Corona in retrospect. Because it started all these rounds, like, Marcos is still in our lives, Corona is still in our lives, if Sereno is impeached, she will still be in our lives.”

Impeachment, Gordon continued, is a serious matter. “We should be very stable as a rock. There are things that should be done well. Impeachment must be done well, not frivolously. I don’t like to sound palinislinis. We are men of the law, we must be firm in our position, it should be done in the proper manner. Impeachment is hard enough as it is because it’s a political/legal scenario.”

To Gordon, “The whole thing started with President Benigno Aquino. The buck stops in his table. Chief Justice Sereno is an able lawyer – about personality and psychological test results —I don’t believe in that. But if you’re president, wisdom is important. Putting a young lady – ahead of seniors and veterans of the law many of whom (not me) dream of becoming chief justice – 99 percent of them want to be chief justice – it’s a great position – by appointing somebody that young… she’ll be chief justice for 17 years?… It’s a mistake. Realistically, she will be watched, she will be living on tenterhooks.”

Karen: Is not meeting the SALN requirement an impeachable offense?

Gordon: If they did it to Corona, they want to do it with Sereno. Let me not cast the first stone. You know there are so many grey areas, we live in a world where there’s right or wrong.”

* * * Veteran journalist Nestor Mata passed away at the age of 92 at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Hospital.

Famous for being the lone survivor of the 1957 crash that killed President Ramon Magsaysay in Cebu, Mata was also well-known for his reporting on politics and foreign affairs for the Philippine Herald which closed in 1972 due to martial law.

He was a columnist for the Philippines Daily Express until 1986, then at Manila Standard in 1987. He went over to Malaya where he continued writing a column till recently. He was also editorin-chief of Lifestyle Asia Magazine.

His five children, Jan, Mike, Joy, Julia and Francis and grandsons were with him when he expired at 2:07 p.m. His wake starts tomorrow at St. Peter’s Memorial in Commonwealth Avenue.

A Philets graduate at the University of Santo Tomas, Mata later became an associate professor, handling mostly political science subjects, drawing on his masteral studies on foreign affairs and experience covering foreign affairs, especially the Sabah talks and the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He taught until 1972.

Mata began in government radio and later transferred to the Herald where he covered labor and the Politburo trials. He was transferred to Malacanang when Magsaysay became president in 1957.

The Philippine Free Press recounted how Mata, with burns on his body, managed to dictate a few words to the Herald before being treated in a Cebu hospital. His book, One Came Back, chronicled the Magsaysay presidency and the plane crash.

Aside from singing lieder, a passion was chess where Mata won executive chess events in the 1970s. He later became a board member of the defunct Philippine Chess Federation and captained the Philippine Olympiad team to Moscow in 1994.

By the way, Richard Gordon has been reelected as chairman of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) during the humanitarian organization’s 32d biennial national convention held at the Manila Hotel tent city last week. Gordon, who is a member of the Philippine Senate, said he commits to continue PRC’s mission to provide quality lifesaving services to the people.

Gordon accumulated the highest number of votes, followed by Governors Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ma. Rachel Arenas, Francis Joseph Jalandoni, Corazon Alma De Leon, Danilo Concepcion, Andrew Nocon, John Tiong, and Antonio Soriano.

Gordon has served as PRC chairman since 2004, and member of the Board of Governors since 1986.

PRC Gov. Ernesto Isla chaired the organization of the three-day convention. He is also chair of the Quezon City PRC chapter.

PRC strengthened its partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) in providing health assistance, such as provision of emergency hospitals, volunteer doctors and nurses, potable water, and welfare desks in times of mass casualty incidents, emergencies and disasters.

For the first time, PRC gave out Humanitarian Media Awards to 24 media partners and personalities for helping the organization disseminate its work.

PRC has its humanitarian ship, Amazing Grace, which houses a high-tech, state-of- the-art operations center, trained volunteers and prepositioned logistics to reach areas affected by disasters and emergencies.