Three (3) justices of the Supreme Court are appearing in the impeachment hearing of the House Justice Committee against Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno.
Present are SC Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Samuel Martires.
Martires was the first to be grilled by lawmakers.
He was the one who wrote the decision that included as beneficiaries in the survivorship law the spouses of justices and judges who died prior to February 11, 2017 when the law was passed.
Martires said he approved the grant of pension after being told there were enough funds for over 300 potential beneficiaries.
Sereno is being accused of delaying the release of benefits to the survivors.
One alleged reason for the delay was Sereno's creation of a technical workimg group (TWG) that contradicted the grant of benefits.
The delay supposedly stretched to two years.
SC Court Administrator Midas Marquez said before Sereno's time, requests for pensions from retirees' families were granted within two to three weeks.
He explained pleas for pension funds were treated with urgency due to the old age of the petitioners.
The hearing today is based on the impeachment complaint filed by Attorney Larry Gadon.