Ifugao solon pushes SC plagiarism case

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—The impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo should proceed on behalf of the comfort women who sought his removal, said Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr., one of the 10 lawmakers who drew up the complaint.

Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, vice chair of the House committee on justice, announced on Tuesday that he intended to drop the charges against Del Castillo so Congress could focus on the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The Senate convened as an impeachment court on Wednesday afternoon after accepting Corona’s impeachment documents from the House of Representatives. On Monday, the House gathered 188 signatures, which enabled it to impeach Corona without undergoing committee procedures.

Baguilat said dropping the impeachment of Del Castillo for allegedly plagiarizing portions of a 2010 ruling on comfort women “would be a disservice to [these] women.”

In October last year, the high court, with a vote of 10-2, absolved Del Castillo of lifting passages written by international legal experts in a ruling that dismissed a petition filed by Filipino women, who claimed to have been sexually abused by Japanese soldiers during World War II.

“The Filipino comfort women should not get the impression that we used them,” Baguilat said. He was here on Wednesday as guest during the North Luzon Mining and Human Rights Summit at the Teachers’ Camp.

The House committee on justice voted 40-7 on Dec. 7 to pursue Del Castillo’s impeachment after it concluded that all evidence, indicating that he had betrayed the public trust, was sufficient.

In December last year, the House accepted an impeachment complaint against Del Castillo. Its committee gave Del Castillo until the end of this week to reply to the complaint.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño, who spoke at the summit on Tuesday, also said Corona’s impeachment may have relegated to the back burner the impeachment complaint filed against Del Castillo.