Former Quezon City lawmaker Matias Defensor Jr. expressed extreme disappointment Thursday over the House Justice Committee’s dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen due to technicality.
Defensor said the committee’s decision was “wrong” simply because Edwin Cordevilla’s documents were not “certified true copy” by the Supreme Court.
Defensor pointed out that certified true copies of documents were not needed to prove the veracity and accuracy of Cordevilla’s impeachment complaint against Leonen.
Defensor, the lead counsel of Cordevilla, said the high bench would never issue documents and subsequently mark them certified true copy documents where the purpose was to use them as pieces of evidence against a magistrate of the high court.
A member of Cordevilla's legal team, Lorenzo Gadon, explained “the particular records involved in the [impeachment] charges are all kept at the Supreme Court.”
Cordevilla, the secretary-general of the Filipino League of Advocates of Good Governance – MAHARLIKA (FLAGG – MAHARLIKA), described the Justice Committee’s decision as “a sorry episode in Philippine history."
“That sovereignty resides in the people is now officially just a verbal display, music to the ears but has lost its meaning because unreal. That high public officials can be made accountable to the people is illusory. Justice is further hurt by Congress today," he said.
In the first hearing on the impeachment complaint, members of the Justice Committee put an end to the charges against Leonen due to the absence of “form” on Cordevilla’s accusations since they have no real documents.
The Justice committee chairman is Leyte Representative Vicente Veloso Jr. Before he became a lawmaker, Veloso was a magistrate at the Court of Appeals.
Based on the House Rules of Impeachment, the Justice Committee is tasked to find out first the form of the impeachment complaint.
Then, the committee will submit its decision to the House secretary–general for the latter to work on its official and formal report.
The Justice Committee will look into the “substance” afterwards as directed by the Impeachment Rules.
Whatever its decision, it will also bring it to the House secretary–general, and the latter will also make an official and formal report.
Defensor pointed out that the lawmakers should have given Cordevilla an opportunity to explain the accusations he hurled against Leonen.
If the solons need real documents, they should issue subpoenas to the Supreme Court, or the College of Law of the University of the Philippines, for them to find out if the crime supposedly committed by Leonen was true, or mere invention of Cordevilla’s imaginative mind.
Defensor explained there was no need for the congressmen to be extremely strict in the character of the documents because the crimes hurled on Leonen had been made public long before they were brought to the halls of Congress by Cordevilla.
To prove the correctness of legal view, Defensor averred that even in libel cases, court judges do not ask for certified true copy documents to continue the charges against journalists.
Defensor said that the crime on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities Net worth (SALN) alone was a big issue, of which there are clear pieces of evidence to pin down Leonen.