MANILA — The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno described lawyer Larry Gadon’s move asking the House of Representatives to subpoena the former to attend the impeachment hearing as ridiculous.
“This is yet another ridiculous statement from Mr. Gadon, who has discarded the law and turned a blind eye to our Constitution in exchange for his vain political ambitions. As earlier pointed out by House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, the Chief Justice—being a respondent in an impeachment proceeding—cannot be compelled to testify before the House Committee on Justice. The Chief Justice is not a witness subject to a subpoena process,” lawyer Josa Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Deinla said the Chief Justice fully respects the impeachment process, noting that this is th reason for her submission of an Answer and Rejoinder to the baseless and unfounded allegations hurled against her by Gadon.
“She does not have to personally appear at all because it is for Mr. Gadon to prove the allegations in his complaint, and not for the Chief Justice to disprove the same considering that he has not even proved anything. Moreover, the accusations have been sufficiently addressed in the Chief Justice’s pleadings filed before the House justice committee,” she explained.
The lawyer said Sereno has also expressed her intention to participate in the impeachment proceedings through the representation of her lawyers of choice, but this was denied by the committee.
She added that House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas has admitted that the Chief Justice, being a respondent in an impeachment proceeding, cannot be compelled to testify before the House Committee on Justice as she is not a witness subject to a subpoena process.
Deinla added that even senators Franklin Drilon and Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who will act as judges if the impeachment case is brought to the Senate, have warned against forcing the Chief Justice to attend the committee hearings as doing so may lead to a constitutional crisis.
“Mr. Gadon cannot brush aside our fundamental laws. He is the one who deserves to be arrested or held in contempt for committing multiple perjurious statements and for putting pressure on Congress to violate the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the Chief Justice,” Deinla said.
The Chief Justice has a pending impeachment complaint in Congress due to alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes and betrayal of public trust.
The House Committee on Justice has already voted to declare that there was sufficient ground to proceed with the impeachment proceedings filed by Gadon.
Gadon, in his impeachment complaint, alleged that Sereno failed to report or include in her SALN the earnings she made when she represented the Philippine International Airport Terminals Co. in the controversial case over the alleged irregularity in the construction of Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Sereno is also accused of purchasing a brand-new 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser worth PHP5.1 million using public funds. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
