Lawyer seeks House appearance of 2 psychologists in Sereno impeach bid

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno INQUIRER.net file photo / Noy Morcoso

Lawyer Larry Gadon said on Saturday he would ask the House committee on justice to summon the two psychologists who performed the psychological examinations on Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to stand as witnesses in the impeachment proceedings against the top magistrate.

“I am planning to file a motion to the House committee on justice to invite the two psychologists who conducted the psychological exam (on) Chief Justice Sereno when she was applying for the position of justice and chief justice,” Gadon said in a news forum in Quezon City.

“Because right after she assumed the position of chief justice, these two psychologists were terminated, hindi nirenew yung contract nila (their contracts were terminated) despite the fact these psychologists have been conducting psychological exams successfully for so many years with the Supreme Court,” he added.

Gadon said there should be a “standard” procedure on why the psychologists were dismissed. He added that these psychologists should not be terminated just because Sereno “failed” in the psychological examinations.

Sereno reportedly failed her psychological exam taken during her application for chief justice in 2012.

She reportedly got a failing score of 4—the highest of which is 1 and the lowest is 5.

Last month, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) denied Gadon’s request to release Sereno’s psychological and psychiatric evaluation records due to confidentiality rules.

The JBC ruled that such records are “strictly confidential and are to be used solely by the Council for evaluation purposes only.” /jpv

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