THE lawyer who filed the impeachment case against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Friday said that he would ask Congress to allow President Rodrigo Duterte to act as special prosecutor in the impeachment trial against the chief magistrate.
“I will formally file a motion with the House of Representatives and also the Senate, whichever the case may be, na payagan maging special prosecutor si President Duterte,” said lawyer Larry Gadon said at a forum in Quezon City.
Gadon said he will file a motion if the impeachment complaint he filed against the Chief Justice reaches the Senate for trial.
The House Committee on justice has recently deemed sufficient in substance the impeachment case filed by Gadon. The next step is the determination of probable cause.
Gadon said that there are no provisions in the Constitution that prohibits a sitting President to sit as as special prosecutor in an impeachment trial.
“Ang paniniwala ko diyan ay wala naman sigurong bawal diyan, sapagkat this is a political exercise, at kung yung mga Associate Justices nga ng Supreme Court ay iimbitahin ko na maging witness, bakit naman ang executive branch, ang presidente, ay hindi mabigyan ng pagkakataon na makilahok sa isang political exercise na ito?” Gadon said.
If Duterte is allowed by Congress to sit in the prosecution panel, the President will be able to cross-examine Sereno during the trial, Gadon said.
He is also confident that Duterte would be willing to become a special prosecutor, since the President himself earlier said that he wants Sereno, along with Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, impeached.
Duterte was a public prosecutor before he became mayor of Davao City. This would make him qualified to grill witnesses in the event of an impeachment trial against the Chief Justice, Gadon said.
But Gadon added that he has yet to talk to lawmakers who could potentially endorse the motion.
“Wala pa akong nakakausap,” he said. “Ito’y susubukan ko pa lang.”
The lawyer said he does not believe that Duterte’s participation in the possible impeachment trial will influence senators, who will sit as judges.
“Sa tingin ko hindi naman, sapagkat ang mga senador ay matured naman na individuals, professionals, sila naman ay mga sariling isip,” Gadon said, adding that the strength of the case will still rest on the evidence presented.
Gadon has accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust.
He said he has yet to form a legal team to represent him in the event of a trial, but he said he wanted to be a private prosecutor in the case too, alongside Duterte.