Lies.
This was how lawyer-complainant Larry Gadon dismissed the verified answer of Supreme Court (SC) chief Maria Lourdes Sereno to the impeachment case filed against her at the House of Representatives.
In his verified reply filed on Thursday, Gadon called Sereno’s verified answer as a “litany of lamentable lies and lame logic crafted to escape her impeachment and eventual removal from office” as it is covered with “legal niceties.”
READ: Sereno seeks dismissal of impeachment rap
“It is overflowing with legal jargon, semantics and technicalities to justify highly questionable acts that actually justify her impeachment and immediate removal from office,” Gadon claimed.
“From her present actuations, it is evident that power, authority and extravagance have gone to her head. She has considered her lonesome self as the Supreme Court En Banc. She has considered her lonesome self as superior to both the Executive and Legislative Departments.”
“She has considered her lonesome self as entitled to the extravagance that is fitting with her superiority, at the expense of public funds. Not to mention her natural propensity to lie with a straight face, without remorse, which makes her a pathological liar,” he added.
READ: Sereno seeks right to cross examine impeachment witnesses
According to Gadon, Sereno “must go soon” either through resignation or impeachment.
“Her seven years in office, two as an associate justice and five as a chief justice, are more than enough chances to show and prove her character. We have seen enough. We have experienced enough. It is time for her to go,” Gadon said.
READ: Sereno responds to impeachment complaint
In her verified answer, Sereno appealed to the lower House to give her “political justice” by dismissing the impeachment complaint and not act on the whims of the political leadership.
She refuted allegations that she did not declare the P37 million in lawyer’s fees in her 2004-2009 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth or commonly known as SALN.
She likewise denied that she manipulated the Judicial and Bar Council shortlist, flaunted an extravagant lifestyle in the purchase of a Toyota Land Cruiser as her service vehicle, bypassed the SC en banc in reviving the Regional Court Administration Office in Region 7, and falsified a temporary restraining order, among others.
READ: Gadon impeach complaint vs Sereno sufficient in form, substance—House body
/kga