The impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice

The overwhelming majority of the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Justice voted to declare that the complaint filed by oneAtty. Larry Gadon against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is sufficient in form. The rules provide that the complaint should be verified and the verification should be based on personal knowledge of facts and on authentic public documents. The oppositors include Congressman Edsel Lagman fromAlbay, who declared that the judiciary is the weakest among the three branches of government, and thus Congress must go slow in impeaching the Chief Justice.

The Committee voted on the issue of sufficiency in form: 30 voted to approve the impeachment as sufficient in form and four voted against. Only Congressmen Lagman, Villarin, Bag-ao and Zarate opposed the motion. Thus, the Committee proceeded to vote on sufficiency in substance, upon the motion of Party-list Representative Harry Roque. The four committee oppositors were given much time to explain their opposition. Villarin alleged that the charges are not supported by evidence and they are not impeachable. Lagman made a sweeping statement that in its totality the charges do not satisfy the sufficiency in substance. Lagman stressed that Sereno cannot be impeached based on acts that she committed prior to her appointment to the Chief Justice.

Lagman also said that most of the specific charges are internal to the Supreme Court and the Judicial Bar and Council. Congresswoman Bag-ao from the island province of Dinagat stated that the charge of culpable violations of the Constitution do not make reference to the specific provision of the Constitution. Congressman Zarate declared that impeachment should refer to serious offenses and not minor errors in judgments. The oppositors are alleging that the proponents for impeachment are overstretching the grounds. Zarate even stated that this impeachment is precisely being pushed by the administration because of the bold stand of the Chief Justice against the policies of the administration.

The Chairman, Congressman Reynaldo Umali, explained that the complaint contains recital of facts that constitute the offenses charged. Thus the Committee proceeded to vote on the sufficiency of substance. The Committee voted as follows: 30 members for sufficiency in form and four against. The same was done in the case of the impeachment of the Chief Justice filed by Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crimes and Corruption. This case was dismissed for insufficiency in form due to defects in the verification. Only five voted for it and 28 voted against. The respondent will then be notified and she will be asked to file her position paper before the Committee decides to rule on the presence or absence of a prima facie case.

Our take in all these is that I would rather allow this whole process to continue, and let the truth come out during the impeachment proceedings. If Sereno is innocent, she will be acquitted. If she is guilty, she will follow Chief Justice Renato Corona. But then again, as they say, impeachment is not a legal or judicial process. It is a political exercise. If so, then, goodbye to the Chief Justice.