Sereno upholds principle of coequality

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno upheld the coequality principle among the three branches of government—executive, legislative and judiciary—when she turned down an invitation from the House of Representatives to appear before it.

The invitation is suspect; it comes after the high court rebuffed President Noynoy on the Development Acceleration Program by declaring it unconstitutional.

Sereno would have risked being humiliated had she appeared before House committee on justice as congressmen who are highly supportive of the President would have questioned her about the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF).

The committee is looking into how the high court spent the JDF.

“She might have been insulted by congressmen close to Malacañang,” said my lawyer friend.

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The blame for Monday’s huge traffic mess should be pinned on Francis Tolentino, chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) who apparently was sleeping on the job.

The eight-vehicle collision on C5 Road occurred at 4 a.m. and tied up traffic on Edsa, C5 and side streets for hours.

The MMDA chief may be incompetent but he also happens to be the President’s classmate at Ateneo, one reason why the traffic czar remains at his post.

The President is very lenient toward his friends, classmates, shooting buddies and distant relatives whom he has appointed to key government positions—even if they commit big mistakes or are incompetent.

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I went over the decision of Makati Judge Cristina F. Javalera-Sulit granting bail to then Chief Insp. Angelo Germinal who is charged with the murder of Christian D. Serrano, a 13-year-old scavenger.

Murder is a nonbailable offense, but Sulit granted Germinal’s petition to bail because, she said, the evidence against him is insufficient.

The good judge gave credence to the testimony of Dr. Voltaire Nulud, chief of the medico legal division of the Southern Police District crime laboratory.

Nulud said the bullet that entered the boy’s body was .38-cal., and not .22-cal., although he admitted he’s not a ballistician who’s an expert on bullets and their destructive effect.

Three empty shells found at the scene of the crime were that of .22-cal. ammunition, supporting the testimony of an eyewitness that Germinal used a .22-cal. rifle in shooting Christian at a distance of 20 meters.

Nulud said a .22-cal. bullet is too small to have penetrated the boy’s body, fractured his bones and hit his heart, before it exited.

I’ve consulted experts on guns.

I was told that a .22-cal. bullet fired from a rifle would have the same destructive effect on a human body as a higher caliber bullet, such as a .38 fired from a pistol, at a distance of 20 m.

The judge should have consulted a ballistics expert before handing out that decision granting bail to Germinal.

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