Sereno may face impeachment for House-CA rift ‘meddling’

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday warned Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno of impeachment following reports that she had categorically instructed the Court of Appeals (CA) to defy a valid show cause order of the House of Representatives against three CA justices.

“If the reports are true, then she can be liable for impeachment,” Alvarez said, noting that this definitely falls under culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution and the all-encompassing betrayal of public trust.

The Davao del Norte congressman issued the warning after The STAR reported over the weekend that Sereno forced CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes to sign a prepared judiciary statement calling on Congress to “reconsider” its show cause order against the magistrates.

The chief magistrate also advised Reyes – who, coincidentally, is a classmate of Alvarez – and the concerned justices Stephen Cruz, Erwin Sorongon and Nina Antonino-Valenzuela not to comply with the House order. Reyes relayed the message to Cruz and the rest.

On top of this, Sereno told the CA justices to “immediately file a petition for prohibition” before the Supreme Court should the House leadership push through with its show cause order, which it just did, and that the 15-man bench would just take care of it.

The Chief Justice has neither confirmed nor denied the article.

The House order was in retaliation to the CA’s order initially freeing, and later granting bail to the six Ilocos Norte officials, dubbed the “Ilocos Six,” whom House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas ordered detained by the committee on good government of Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.

Alvarez called the magistrates “idiots and stupid,” invoking Congress’ exclusive contempt powers, which include the authority to detain uncooperative or recalcitrant resource persons indefinitely.

None of the Ilocos Six or Fariñas’ rival Gov. Imee Marcos have been charged either with graft or plunder.

The local officials have been detained since May 29, or more than a month now – the longest in the bicameral Congress’ history.

Consequently, Fariñas almost singlehandedly managed to establish the officials’ guilt, unearthing millions more of anomalies other than the alleged P66.5-million bus and multicab purchase without any bidding, cash advances and many others.

The Pimentel committee likewise got hold of the multimillion-peso checks that have been declared “missing” in the provincial capitol, through copies furnished by the Land Bank of the Philippines, and certified as authentic by the Commission on Audit.

But unlike in the several doctrines the lawmakers cited in justifying their detention, none of them have so far been charged before the Ombudsman, even if the House officials have culled a rather incriminating evidence, all of which bore signatures of the local officials.

“You hold the key to your cells,” Fariñas told treasurer Josephine Calajate, budget officer Evangeline Tabulog, engineer Pedro Agcaoili of the bids and awards committee, Eden Batulaya from the accounting office, and Encarnacion Gaor and Genedine Jambaro.

Discussions in the Pimentel committee have highlighted the defiance shown by former Presidential Commission on Good Government chairman Camilo Sabio and former National Economic and Development Authority chief Romulo Neri against the contempt powers of the Senate, but both have been charged in court and have not been detained indefinitely.

Fariñas and Pimentel said they have the power to detain the six officials “until June 2019.”

Imee willing to cooperate

Meanwhile, Marcos said she would attend the hearing on the Ilocos Six anomaly on July 25 and abide by the subpoena issued by the House leadership to her, provided that her constitutional rights will be protected.

“I have expressed my willingness to cooperate with the Committee on Good Government on the faith that (it) would conduct its current inquiry in accordance with the letter and spirit of Sec. 21, Art. VI of the Constitution – that the inquiry is in aid of legislation and that the rights of persons appearing therein are protected,” she said in a statement released yesterday through her lawyer, former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza.

Marcos said she has already sent two letters to the House committee seeking clarification on her being summoned to attend the hearing as a resource person.

“Even as those letters did not merit any response from the committee, my commitment to cooperate on constitutional grounds has not changed,” she maintained. 

She said the judiciary, and not Congress, is the rightful body to prosecute, as she lamented the fate of the Ilocos Six. 

“As a former legislator, I also know that the power of legislative inquiry does not give Congress the power to deprive any citizen of constitutionally vested rights such as the rights to freedom of movement and to be presumed innocent until you are proven guilty. Neither does it vest Congress the power to act as a prosecutorial or judicial body that determines the innocence or guilt of anyone for any charge of misconduct. The judicial system, not Congress, is constitutionally empowered to do so,” Marcos’ statement read. – With Edu Punay