Palace hands-off on impeach moves vs. Sereno

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang denied on Thursday that it was behind any impeachment move against Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno over the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF).

"Walang partisipasyon ang ehekutibo sa anumang hakbangin sa impeachment na 'yan,"  Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. said at a televised press briefing.

"Ang tingin lang namin, plainly and simply, ito ay naging bunga ng kanilang isinasagawang pagsusuri sa JDF," he added.

Coloma noted that the congressional probe on the JDF is done by a separate and a co-equal branch of the government.

In investigating the possible misuse of the JDF, Coloma said lawmakers are only doing their legislative and oversight duties.

Coloma made his statements after some lawmakers said Sereno could be impeached over the possible misuse of the JDF.

Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, vice chairman of the House committee on justice investigating the JDF, said there were indications that the fund was used for other purposes other than what was provided by law.

If fund misuse is confirmed in the next hearings, he said Sereno could be charged with technical malversation, an impeachable offense.

Umali said another possible ground for the impeachment of Sereno and other justices is culpable violation of the Constitution for usurping the exclusive power of Congress to appropriate funds in disbursing the JDF.

Read: House leaders say Sereno could be impeached

Umali was one of the House prosecutors who secured the conviction of former chief justice Renato Corona in May 2012.

The committee on justice, which is in charge of hearing impeachment complaints against impeachable officials, is chaired by Iloilo Representative Neil Tupas, another prosecutor during the Corona impeachment trial.

Both Umali and Tupas are members of President Aquino's Liberal Party.

Sereno skipped Tuesday's congressional probe on the JDF at the House of Representatives, saying the investigation was "premature and inappropriate."

Read: CJ no-show at ‘premature, inappropriate’ JDF probe

The issue on the JDF comes amid the perceived strained relations between the Aquino administration and the Supreme Court, which recently declared the President's Disbursement Acceleration Program as partially unconstitutional.

The high court also declared as unconstitutional the congressional pork barrel or the Priority Development Assistance Fund.