MANILA, Philippines — The office of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is withholding documents about her travels that will prove her lavish lifestyle, according to lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, who wants the highest magistrate ousted from her post.
On Tuesday, before the House Committee on Justice, he said that the Supreme Court en banc, in a resolution, supposedly already granted his request for documents detailing Sereno’s travel expenses, her companions during these travels, her accommodations during these travels, and her purpose for these travels from 2012 to present. However, the only information handed to him was a “very limited list of foreign travels”.
Gadon said he made the request before filing the complaint against the Chief Justice.
Nevertheless, he cited Court Administrator Midas Marquez as backing up his claims that Sereno flew business class (which he used interchangeably with first class to make a point that these are “more expensive than the economic class”) at least once.
Gadon claimed that he had witnesses, including associate justices, regarding such flights, and that Marquez had said he was in the same flight as Sereno once, where he was in economy class, while she was in business class with her staff and bodyguards.
Discussed on Tuesday was the part of Gadon’s complaint where the Chief Justice was accused of the following acts constituting corruption.
1. She allegedly used public funds to finance her extravagant and lavish lifestyle by ordering the purchase of a brand-new, luxurious Toyota Land Cruiser 2017 model as her personal vehicle, amounting to more than P5 million.
2. She supposedly used public funds to stay in opulent hotels when attending conferences in the Philippines and abroad, and flew on business or first class together with her staff and security.
3. She allegedly used public funds to flaunt her extravagance by unnecessarily bringing a huge entourage of lawyers in her supposed official foreign trips.
On the first allegation, Gadon said that the approval of the Supreme Court en banc of the acquisition of the car “came much late” and was granted on the premise that the procurement was in order. But, claimed Gadon, based on the documents regarding the bidding, procurement laws were violated because the brand of the car, the color, and the model, among others, were specified.
He then cited Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas as saying it is illegal to specify the item requested for.
Misamis Occidental 2nd District Representative Henry Oaminal then cited Sereno’s answer, where she said the procurement of the Toyota Land Cruiser is allowed under a Department of Budget and Management budget circular, “extending to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by way of an exception, whose exception is also extended to the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the Senate President, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” therefore sanctioning the legality of the procurement.
Gadon replied that the exception is there for security purposes. There is no difference between a Toyota Land Cruiser and other vehicles of the same class, such as less expensive models Chevrolet Trailblazer, Toyota Fortuner, and Mitsubishi Pajero.
He added that the Toyota Land Cruiser is supposedly not even bullet-proof, and thus, the exception was not complied with. Thus, he said, the acquisition was “excessive and extravagant”.
They then discussed her stay in a Presidential Villa the Shangri-La Boracay, which Gadon was opposed to because there are other places on the island which do not cost “P200,000 a day”.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sereno’s spokespersons said, “The Presidential Villa was chosen and paid for by the Supreme Court itself as the meeting area for the 3rd ASEAN Chief Justices Meeting for 24 hours in March 2015. The signing of the Boracay Accord, the photo-op of the ASEAN Chief Justices, as well as side meetings between ASEAN Chief Justices, all took place in the Presidential Villa.”
They added, “Instead of booking additional rooms, Chief Justice Sereno, her staff, and part of the secretariat were allowed to stay at the Presidential Villa after the official gathering of the ASEAN Chief Justices at no additional cost to the Supreme Court. By maximizing the use of the Presidential Villa, Chief Justice Sereno actually saved public funds. Clearly, there is nothing corrupt about this.”
But Gadon called the claim that there was no additional cost “illogical”.
“The villa, your honor, was booked with the intention of using it for Justice Sereno… Palusot lang ‘yan,” he said.
They then moved to the allegation that Sereno travels with a huge entourage of lawyers abroad.
Asked by Oaminal how many lawyers there were, Gadon replied, “Six. Four, five, six… Between three to five to six.”
Oaminal cited Sereno’s answer, where she denied going on foreign trips with more than three lawyers at a time. In one trip, only one lawyer assisted her; in two other trips, two lawyers were with her; and in one other trip, three lawyers joined her.
Gadon said this discrepancy was exactly why he asked the Supreme Court en banc for details on Sereno’s domestic and foreign travels.
