MANILA, Philippines — Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas advised individuals and groups intending to impeach officials to ensure they comply with the rules of the House of Representatives as two complaints against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno remained without endorsers.
The complaints were filed separately by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and lawyer Larry Gadon.
An impeachment complaint is considered filed only when it is endorsed by at least one member of the House.
“I read the Gadon complaint and I told Atty. Gadon when he came to my office yesterday that his allegations must substantially comply with his verification that they are of his own personal knowledge and/or culled from authentic records,” Fariñas said.
“I told him that if such is endorsed by any House Member and is referred by the Committee on Rules to the Committee on Justice, I will subject it to the same scrutiny that I did with the Alejano complaint,” he added, referring to the complaint filed in March by Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano against President Rodrigo Duterte.
The complaint was junked by the committee on justice.
“Atty. Gadon, or any other complainant for impeachment, should comply with his verification for at least a substantial portion of his allegations especially those that are readily available as they are public documents or records,” Farinas said.
He noted that there were attachments to Gadon’s complaint that are newspaper reports.
“I advised him to get certified true copies of the SC orders or circulars that he is alleging to be parts of his causes of action. If the SC will not give him copies of the SALN of the Chief Justice, or the JBC her alleged psychiatric report or the BIR her ITRs, the committee on justice could subpoena them, if and when it reaches that stage of the impeachment proceedings,” Fariñas said.
