Questionnaire for Justice Sereno not enough, says prosecutor

Supreme Court Justice Lourdes Sereno. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Bayan Muna partylist Representative Neri Javier Colmenares said Saturday that submitting written questions, technically known interrogatories, to Supreme Court Justice Lourdes Sereno in lieu of a personal appearance at the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona might not be enough.

Colmenares, lead prosecutor for Article 7 of the impeachment complaint, insisted in a statement that the Senate impeachment court should “invite” Sereno to testify on her opinion dissenting from the majority decision in a temporary restraining order the Supreme Court issued against travel restrictions imposed by the Department of Justice on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Interrogatories are a formal set of written questions propounded by one litigant and required to be answered by an adversary or a witness in order to clarify matters of fact and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at a trial.

It was Senator Antonio Trillanes who broached the idea of sending interrogatories to Sereno in the event the Supreme Court en banc disallowed the justice’s appearance as a witness in the impeachment trial.

Sereno’s testimony was needed by the prosecution for Article 7, which pertains to Corona’s alleged betrayal of public trust in connection with the alleged irregular issuance of the TRO that would have allowed the departure of Arroyo and her husband before they could be formally charged.

“We know that Senator-Judge Antonio Trillanes means well and he also wants to know the whole truth but such a method would be too long and complicated,” Colmenares said. “What we need is for Justice Sereno to be at least invited to the impeachment trial or at most subpoenaed, so that we may find closure on the issue of Chief Justice Corona’s partiality to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.”

Colmenares said Sereno could not be disciplined by the Supreme Court should she decide to testify in person because violation of laws or rules, including judicial misconduct, cannot be considered confidential.

Also, the Supreme Court en banc cannot sanction her because it is only Congress that has the power to impeach her, he added.

Colmenares said the Supreme Court resolution dated February 14 which prohibited Supreme Court employees from testifying in the impeachment without en banc approval was “a self-serving tool of impunity and to hide the truth.”

The court resolution stated that all court personnel from chief justice up to the court drivers serving the TRO in favor of Arroyo could not testify in the impeachment court because any document that is “pre-decisional” is confidential.

Colmenares said such a resolution was an affront to the power and duties of the impeachment court as it clipped its power to look into the vital information material and relevant to impeachable offenses committed by Corona or other justices.

He said the Senate should not allow an “internal rule” of the Supreme Court to cripple its constitutional power of impeachment.

“While we are all searching for the truth, the Supreme Court now under Chief Justice Renato Corona is doing all it can to bury it, especially the facts and circumstances where he showed partiality so that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can escape accountability for her crimes against the Filipino people,” he said.

Colmenares appealed to Sereno to heed the “people’s cry for the truth” that only she can shed light upon.

“As Chief Justice Corona and his defense team are hell-bent in hiding the truth, it is Justice Sereno’s, the prosecution’s and the Senate impeachment court’s duty to expose it,” he said.