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Friday, March 29, 2024

Council bars Sereno test release

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THE Judicial and Bar Council has rejected the request of the lawyer seeking the impeachment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to release the psychological and psychiatric evaluation results of the top magistrate.

In junking the request of lawyer Larry Gadon, the JBC cited Section 3, Rule 6 of the Revised JBC Rules, which provides that the “results of the examination [psychological and psychiatric evaluation] are strictly confidential and are to be used solely by the Council for evaluation purposes only.”

But Gadon said the screening body, now chaired by Sereno, was not bound by this rule since the office of chief justice is imbued with public interest.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives’ committee on justice will begin its marathon hearings Wednesday next week on the impeachment complaints filed against Sereno and Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista.

The panel chairman, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, made the disclosure Thursday after the House committee on rules referred the two complaints to his panel to have them scheduled for full-blown hearings.

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“Two impeachment cases against Bautista and Sereno were both read today [Thursday] in the plenary, we will schedule it simultaneously but one at a time,” Umali told reporters Thursday.

“We will probably begin the hearings on Wednesday,” he added.

During the initial hearing, the House justice panel is expected to lay down the ground rules for impeachment; and later on determine the sufficiency in form and substance of the two complaints filed.

Gadon wanted Sereno removed from her post for betrayal of public trust for what he alleged as “whimsical” and “excessive” purchase of the latest model of the Toyota Land Cruiser amounting to P5.1 million, as well as her alleged failure to declare “exorbitant lawyer’s fees” allegedly amounting to P37 million. 

The complaint was endorsed by at least 25 lawmakers.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc. also wanted Sereno impeached on the same grounds cited by Gadon.  The VACC and VPCI complaint was endorsed by 16 lawmakers.

Umali said the House justice panel will consolidate the two complaints.

Former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras filed an impeachment complaint against Bautista for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution over allegations of ill-gotten wealth. 

The complaint was endorsed by at least three lawmakers.

Under the rules, the House justice panel has 60 session days upon the referral of the complaint to commence the impeachment process.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Tuesday the House of Representatives would not automatically transmit to the Senate the impeachment case filed against Sereno, which has gained enough endorsements in the House.

Alvarez said the House committee on justice must conduct thorough hearings on the Sereno complaint, along with the other impeachment cases, to find out if there was enough evidence to pin her down as well as the others.  

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