Gadon gives ultimatum to Sereno: Resign or your staff will suffer

Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon gave Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno up to March 1 to resign or he would file criminal charges against some of her staff in the Supreme Court.

“If Chief Justice Sereno does not resign by March 1, 2018, I will file the following cases against the following officials in the following days,” he said, enumerating the names of the officials.

Gadon said the officials that would be subject of his complaint had “allowed themselves to be used and committed various irregularities just to bow to the wishes of Chief Justice Sereno.”

These officials have testified during the House justice committee hearings on the determination of probable cause in Sereno’s impeachment.

For the alleged illegal purchase of the Toyota Land Cruiser, Gadon threatened to file a case for violation of Sec. 18, Republic Act No. (RA) 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act) and Sec. 3 (a), RA 3019 (Anti-Graft Law) against Sereno and the following officials:

1. Deputy Court Administrator Thelma C. Bahia (retired)

2. Lawyer Ma. Carina M. Cunanan, assistant chief, Office of Administrative Services

3. Lawyer Corazon G. Ferrer-Flores, chief, Fiscal Management and Budget Office

4. Lawyer Michael B. Ocampo, Court Attorney VI, Office of the Chief Justice

For the supposedly questionable hiring of IT consultant Helen Macasaet, Gadon said he would file a case for violation of RA 9184 and Sec. 3 (a), (e), and (g),  RA 3019 against Sereno, Macasaet and

1. Deputy Court Administrator Raul Bautista Villanueva

2. Lawyer Ma. Carina M. Cunanan, assistant chief, Office of Administrative Services

3. Lawyer Corazon G. Ferrer-Flores, chief, Fiscal Management and Budget Office

4. Lawyer Ma. Lourdes E.B. Oliveros, chief justice staff head, Office of the Chief Justice

5. Lawyer Michael B. Ocampo, Court Attorney VI, Office of the Chief Justice

For the alleged inordinate delay in the release of survivorship benefits, Gadon will file a case for violation of Sec. 3 (e), RA 3019 against Sereno and

1. Lawyer Anna-Li R. Papa-Gombio, deputy clerk of court en banc

2. Lawyer Jocelyn Fabian, Court Attorney VI, Office of the Chief Justice

3. Lawyer Czarina Encarnacion Samonte-Villanueva, judicial staff head, Office of the Chief Justice

For SC justices’ use of the Presidential Villa of Shangri-La Boracay, Gadon will file a case for violation of RA 9184 and Sec. 3(a) and (b), RA 3019 against Sereno and

1. Justice Zaldy V. Trespeses, former judicial staff head, Office of the Chief Justice

2. Lawyer Corazon G. Ferrer-Flores, chief, Fiscal Management and Budget Office

“Knowing fully well that these criminal cases I am filing could end the careers of these public officials in the Judiciary, I am giving them one last chance before I actually file these cases…” Gadon said in a statement to the media on Thursday.

Sereno’s camp has yet to issue a statement. /cbb

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TAGS: corruption, Graft, Impeachment, Lorenzo Gadon, News, Supreme Court