Sereno gave ‘another nauseating lie’ on benefits issue – Gadon

Lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon on Wednesday said Justice Chief Maria Lourdes Sereno’s explanation on the issue of the delayed release of survivorship benefits to the widow of the late Court of Appeals Justice Jose Colayco was “another nauseating lie.”

“This lie and the passing the blame stunt of the Office of the Chief Justice on the issue of delays of the release of survivorship benefits has become infuriating. Disgusting,” Gadon said.

He said Sereno had pinned the blame on the justices of the Supreme Court (SC) en banc by saying that the release of survivorship benefits was only approved a few days ago.

“The truth is the SC en banc acted quite swiftly and approved the applications  in just around a month,” Gadon added.

Gadon alleged Sereno of withholding the survivorship benefits of Colayco’s widow, Dolores, who died on October 3, a week before the SC approved her application.

Gadon, who filed the impeachment complaint against the chief justice, said that Sereno did not disclose that the applications have been pending in the Office of the Chief Justice even before January 2017 and the lawyer heading the technical working group (TWG) she created “sat on it.”

The lawyer said the TWG was created supposedly to speed up the approval of application, but instead, “it delayed the entire process, a clear display of negligence and incompetence.”

He said: “Had the Office of the Chief Justice processed the applications on time, the 94-year old Lola Dolly Colayco could have used her monthly pension for her sustenance and medicine.”

The camp of Sereno on Tuesday said that Gadon’s allegations were baseless” and “unfounded.”

According to Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te, Dolores’ application for survivorship benefits was received by the SC from the CA in August 2016.

The application dragged on as the SC en banc only issued a policy decision on the survivorship pension of retired justices and judges on Sept. 19, 2017.

Te said the benefits that Mrs. Colayco was entitled to receive will accrue to her heirs.

Gadon said he is going to look deeper into the matter and will determine the personalities involved, and if needed, he will file a case before the Ombudsman against the presons responsible for the case.