House sees Sereno's Senate impeach trial in August

MANILA, Philippines — It seems Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno will have to wait four months for her impeachment trial as the Senate may only start proceedings by the last week of July, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said yesterday.

The House of Representatives adjourned session last night for its seven-week Lenten vacation without acting on the impeachment charges against Sereno.

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said the House would tackle the committee report shortly after Congress resumes session on May 14.

But Sotto doubts if Sereno’s impeachment will be their priority when they come back after the break.

“Perhaps, it’s BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law),” he noted during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum at the Cafe Adriatico in Malate, Manila.   

Fariñas said the chamber would transmit the case against Sereno to the Senate when senators are ready for trial.

“The power to impeach includes when to impeach. As majority leader, I will coordinate with my Senate counterpart when they are ready,” Fariñas said. “How can we prosecute if they are not ready?”

According to Sotto, rules on impeachment already exist but there are procedures to observe before they can actually start trial, even if the House committee on justice has approved the six articles of impeachment against Sereno.

And assuming that the House can transmit the case to the Senate when sessions resume, Sotto said they have to follow the Constitution, which requires them to convene as an impeachment court and observe some procedures like sending summons to parties concerned.

Sotto is also looking at other possible delays like when the parties seek an extension. 

“There’s no way we can start the trial in May… The procedures will go beyond June 2. And June 2 up to the last week of July is the mandated constitutional break. Therefore, the impeachment trial can only start perhaps, at the earliest, by last week of July,” Sotto said.

The House justice committee approved on Monday the draft of the articles of impeachment against Sereno with a vote of 33-1.

The panel included 24 out of the 27 allegations by lawyer Larry Gadon in the six articles, which will be sent to the House plenary for approval.

The committee members want Sereno impeached for culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, corruption and other high crimes based on various grounds.

Quo warranto case

Fariñas said the House is also inclined to wait for the Supreme Court’s resolution of the quo warranto case filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida, who claims that Sereno’s appointment in 2012 by then president Benigno Aquino III was invalid since the appointee did not comply with all requirements like the submission of statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

“I see that there is a serious challenge on the legitimacy of the officer in question. Maybe by May 14, the Supreme Court has already resolved it,” he said.

Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, justice committee chairman, said if Sereno’s colleagues found the Calida complaint meritorious and remove their chief justice themselves, there would be no need for the House to send the impeachment case to the Senate for trial.

The camp of the Chief Justice and opposition senators and congressmen said the SC does not have the authority to remove its chief justice or any impeachable officer for that matter.

They said the Constitution is clear in providing that impeachable officers could only be ousted from office through the impeachment process.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque has said if the high court removes Sereno, the executive branch would respect such decision and would in fact enforce it. 

Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. said the administration resorted to the Calida petition after surveying potential 16 Senate votes for convicting Sereno and discovered the votes were insufficient. - Jess Diaz