Supreme Court Associated Justice Marvic Leonen (File photo from Philippine Dailiy Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Over 100 colleagues and lawyers said the impeachment complaint filed against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen was “baseless and unfounded,” as they threw their support to the judiciary official.
“Knowing Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen as we do, from our personal, academic and professional work and relations with him, we denounce the impeachment complaint against him,” read the statement titled “Statement of Support for Justice Marvic Leonen” issued by co-workers and friends of Leonen.
“The complaint is utterly baseless and unfounded, and should not be given due course. The complaint constitutes a direct attack on the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,” it added.
Leonen’s colleagues said they worked with him from the 1980s to 2000s to defend human rights and ancestral domains of farmers and indigenous communities nationwide.
“We witnessed Justice Leonen’s idealism, probity, deep integrity, high professional work ethic, and love for the law as an instrument of justice rather than oppression,” read the statement.
“Justice Leonen continues to be a visionary leader, deeply committed to helping the marginalized, oppressed, and unrepresented. He inspired us to maximize and utilize our potential to be of service to local Filipino communities, to help them find their voice,” it further said.
The ouster complaint lodged against Leonen alleged that he lacked integrity for failure to file statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) for 15 years, citing a newspaper column.
The impeachment case was lodged by Edwin Cordevilla of the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government. Cordevilla assisted by lawyer Larry Gadon, who also filed the controversial impeachment case against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.