Umali warns colleagues for questions that delay impeach proceedings

House committee on justice chairman Rep. Reynaldo Umali. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON

House justice committee chairman Rep. Reynaldo Umali criticized some of the committee members’ line of questioning “impugning” lawyer Larry Gadon instead of finding “good basis” whether Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno should be impeached from office.

Without naming any lawmaker, Umali said some of the committee members’ direction of questions for Gadon delays the impeachment proceeding against Sereno.

“Given the line of questioning which essentially impugns Gadon rather than eliciting facts, ito ang nagpapatagal sa atin (this is the one delaying us),” Umali told reporters on Wednesday.

READ: Sereno camp on denial of right to counsel, cross-examination: ‘Sad day for justice’

“Hopefully, the members would realize that our role is not to impugn but get the factual circumstances that will really give us good basis whether she should be removed from office. Dapat gano’n (That should be it),” Umali said.

Umali’s committee wants the hearings on determining the probable cause to impeach Sereno to finish before the Congress adjourns session on December 13 for Christmas break.

He said the committee will conduct three consecutive hearings in a week starting Wednesday. On the seventh hearing, which will be on Dec. 11, the committee will vote whether there is probable cause to pursue the complaint and bring it to the plenary.

“We will vote on the probable cause on the seventh day, get the rules to include this in the agenda on the eighth day and vote upon it on the ninth day, which is on Dec. 13,” Umali said.

Sereno is facing an impeachment complaint for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust. /jpv