LAWYER Lorenzo Gadon, the complainant in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, said Wednesday he felt vindicated by the testimony of Associate Justice Teresita de Castro.
“What Justice De Castro has said in her testimony confirmed everything that I have stated in my complaint,” Gadon told reporters.
“And not only that, she even clarified deeper into the incidents involving the creation of the RCAO [Regional Court Administration Office] and the JDO [Judiciary Decentralized Office],” he added.
De Castro’s testimony showed that Sereno had committed a culpable violation of the Constitution, Gadon said.
With De Castro’s testimony, he added, he was sure Sereno would be impeached.
Gadon again called on Sereno to resign and said he expect she will be under even more pressure when the hearings tackle her State of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and charges of falsification.
“In fact, by this time, she might have a heart attack,” he said in Filipino.
Sereno’s lawyers sought to play down De Castro’s testimony as “nothing new.”
Sereno, who has stayed away from the hearings, continued with her speaking engagements.
In a speech before the Constitutional Fiscal Autonomy Group in Parañaque City, Sereno said the country’s system of checks and balances would become weak if the judiciary alone would be performing its mandate.
Sereno said the five constitutional bodies—the Commission on Human Rights, Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections, and the Civil Service Commission— must also be given enough resources to ensure the stability of government.
Sereno said these agencies and the Supreme Court deserve to earn the public’s support against any measure seeking to weaken them.
Sereno declined to comment on De Castro’s testimony before the House justice committee.
“Talk to my spokespersons and lawyers,” Sereno told reporters.