Leave the job to us, House tells Lorenzo Gadon

MANILA, Philippines — The chairman of the House committee on justice yesterday reiterated his unsolicited advice to lawyer Lorenzo Gadon – who filed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno – to keep his mouth shut. 

Sereno’s camp also slammed Gadon anew, this time for pressuring the House of Representatives to compel her to appear at the impeachment proceedings.

“As I said, he should not preempt the committee and Congress because sometimes, he does that. That makes it difficult for us because his pronouncements get us criticized,” Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said in Filipino. 

Gadon held a press conference on Monday, telling reporters he would move for the issuance of a “subpoena” to Sereno, especially since practically all of the Supreme Court justices have expressed willingness to testify against her. He said the chief magistrate is doomed. 

If worst comes to worst, Gadon told a news briefing he will seek Sereno’s arrest. 

“Actually we already talked on the last day of the hearing. I told him to just let the impeachment proceedings take its course with less pronouncements from him,” Umali said, adding: “I really don’t know where that is coming from.”

Umali explained the justice panel members have already discussed the possibility of issuing a subpoena but has elaborated such in a hypothetical manner to the media, and will not discuss it again. 

“The majority leader (Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas) has also spoken about it. On our part, we will not tackle it anymore,” Umali said, noting the hearings were moving forward without Sereno.

“We don’t need those kinds of innuendos,” Umali said. 

The next scheduled impeachment hearing will be on Jan. 18 next year. 

No need to attend

Lawyer Josa Deinla, one of the spokespersons of Sereno, insisted that the House cannot issue a subpoena and compel the Chief Justice to attend the impeachment hearings.

“She does not have to personally appear at all because it is for Mr. Gadon to prove the allegations in his complaint, and not for the Chief Justice to disprove the same, considering that he has not even proved anything. Moreover, the accusations have been sufficiently addressed in the Chief Justice’s pleadings filed before the House justice committee,” Deinla said in a statement.

Deinla argued Sereno cannot be a subject of a subpoena with warning of arrest since she is not a witness in the impeachment case.

“Mr. Gadon cannot brush aside our fundamental laws. He is the one who deserves to be arrested or held in contempt for committing multiple perjurious statements and for putting pressure on Congress to violate the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the Chief Justice,” she stressed.

The lawyer also cited the reported statements of Senators Franklin Drilon and Francis Escudero, who will act as judges if the impeachment case is brought to the Senate, warning that forcing the Chief Justice to attend the committee hearings could lead to a constitutional crisis.

She also pointed to the admission of Fariñas that the Chief Justice, being a respondent in an impeachment proceeding, cannot be compelled to testify before the House panel as she is not a witness subject to a subpoena process.

Sereno’s lawyer maintained that the Chief Justice fully respects the impeachment process, having submitted her answer and rejoinder to the impeachment complaint.

Deinla further stressed that Sereno has already expressed her intention to participate in the impeachment proceedings through the representation of her lawyers of choice, but this was denied by the committee.

Gadon earlier said there were issues only Sereno could answer, such as those regarding her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth and her personal data sheet.