MANILA, Philippines –- The committee on justice of the House of Representatives resumed its hearing on the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday, November 22, but without the chief magistrate.
Only the lawyers of Sereno showed up at the hearing called by the House panel to determine the existence of probable cause on the complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon.
Sereno earlier asked the committee to allow her lawyers to represent her, as she asserted that the charges against her were baseless.
“The committee shall determine today and in subsequent hearings, if necessary, based on the evidence to be presented whether there exists such facts and circumstances to engender a well-founded belief that such impeachable offense is committed and the Chief Justice is probably guilty thereof,” Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, the committee chairperson, said in his opening statement.
During the hearing, Umali said Gadon and Sereno would be given time to present their documentary evidence and testimonies.
Only the respondent would be allowed to speak, referring to Sereno. Only the endorsers, committee members and ex-officio members would be allowed to interpellate, Umali added.
Earlier, several opposition members such as Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin wrote the committee a letter to allow them to participate.
“I have been a member of the House way back in the 8th Congress and the subsequent 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th Congresses and the current 17th Congress or a total of seven Congresses. My invariable experience is that my colleagues and I were consistently accorded as a matter of right to participate in committee deliberations of which we were not members, including the Committee on Justice in impeachment proceedings with respect to non-members,” Lagman said.
He added, “All congressional committees are established or created by the Plenary. They are creations by majority vote of the House. Verily, a Representative who participates in the creation of a committee cannot be barred or deprived from participating in the deliberations of a committee thus created. Accordingly, a creator cannot be discriminated against or gagged by the created committee.”
Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas, backing Umali, said the non-members, even the public could attend but would not be allowed to participate in the deliberation.
“Non-members may attend, but they cannot participate in the deliberation, because every time we have an issue and non-members are allowed to speak, we will never be able to finish,” Farinas said.
Gadon accused Sereno of committing 27 impeachable acts tantamount to culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.
