ALVAREZ THREATENS IMPEACH RAP ANEW VS CHIEF JUSTICE

MAASIN CITY— Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Sunday announced the possible filing of an impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno if House leaders found that she ordered the Court of Appeals (CA) to defy the showcause order issued by the House of Representatives asking three CA justices to explain why they should not be cited in contempt for granting the habeas corpus petition of six Ilocos Norte provincial employees being detained by the chamber for contempt.

Alvarez, who was here to administer the oath-taking of new Partido Demokratiko PilipinoLakas ng Bayan ( PDP-Laban) members, said House leaders got wind of reports that Sereno ordered the CA to defy the show-cause order.

“If we found it to be true, then we will discuss it in Congress for a possible impeachment case,” he said.

The House has been locked in a standoff with CA Associate Justices Stephen Cruz, Edwin Sorongon and Nina AntonioValenzuela after the justices ordered the release of Ilocos Norte officials detained by a House committee for refusing to answer questions about an alleged anomaly involving the purchase of more than P66 million worth of vehicles using funds from tobacco excise taxes.

The Speaker was here on Sunday to administer the oath of new members of PDP-Laban in the province, including Southern Leyte Gov. Damian Mercado and brother Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado, all 19 mayors of the province and their councilors, all 70 village chiefs of the city of Maasin and their councilmen.