Impeachment complainant Lorenzo Gadon belts out “Pasko Na, Sinta Ko” during a press briefing at the Kamuning Bakery Café on Monday. Photo by Vince F. Nonato.
Impeachment complainant Lorenzo Gadon will ask the House of Representatives to subpoena Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to compel her to appear before the chamber under the pain of arrest.
In a press briefing on Monday, Gadon said there were issues only Sereno could answer, such as those regarding her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and her personal data sheet.
Gadon’s complaint alleged that Sereno failed to truthfully disclose her wealth and embellished her credentials in her application to the judiciary.
“There are many questions there that only she can answer. I will move, I will request Congress to issue her a subpoena,” he said. “If she doesn’t appear, I can also request that she be ordered arrested.”
Gadon noted that Sereno’s colleagues have already appeared before the House justice committee’s hearings to determine the existence of probable cause to pursue her impeachment.
“If there are justices who could appear, what is the reason for a Chief Justice not to appear?” he said.
Thus far, Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Noel Tijam and Francis Jardeleza have already testified against Sereno’s supposed failure to abide by internal procedures and consult the full court on various matters. Retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion also appeared before the committee.
Gadon said he expects five more incumbent justices—Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Samuel Martires, Mariano del Castillo, Diosdado Peralta and Andres Reyes Jr.—to appear when the House proceedings resume in January.
“For a private lawyer like me, a simple lawyer, I was able to create something unprecedented in the country: To file an impeachment complaint against a sitting Chief Justice with no less than nine justices as my witness,” he gushed.
“It just so happened out of my desire to fix the problems in the judiciary. This is actually my only profession, aside from being a lover boy,” he added.
‘Mind-conditioning’
Sought for comment, Sereno’s spokesperson Aldwin Salumbides dismissed Gadon’s statements as “part of their psywar campaign to condition the mind of the public… [and] make it appear that Chief Justice Sereno is losing support among her colleagues in the Supreme Court.”
“Despite many lengthy hearings, no credible evidence was presented to prove that CJ Sereno committed an impeachable offense,” Salumbides said.
“Since Gadon and his principals want to conduct long hearings, they need to hold a parade of many so-called witnesses to tell stories that are either hearsay, purely personal angst, malicious innuendos, or deceptive optics designed to mislead and deceive people into thinking that there’s basis to oust the Chief Justice,” he added.
Salumbides disagreed that Sereno could be compelled by Congress to appear because “she is not a witness subject to a subpoena process.”
“CJ Sereno has a constitutional right to be present or absent. Gadon and his masters and minions cannot brush aside our fundamental laws. They are the ones who deserve to be arrested or held in contempt,” he said.
In his complaint, Gadon accused Sereno of falsifying various Supreme Court resolutions, delaying action on the petitions for the benefits of retired judges or the spouses of deceased judges, manipulating the nomination of justices, and using public funds on a luxury vehicle and extravagant accommodations.
He also accused Sereno of obstructing justice by ordering Muntinlupa City judges not to issue an arrest warrant against Senator Leila de Lima, hiring an information technology consultant without public bidding, appointing key officials without the full court’s approval, and criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte for linking judges to the illegal drug trade and declaring martial law in Mindanao.
During the briefing, Gadon said during the briefing that a high-profile client, former President and Pampanga 2nd Dist. Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, even “congratulated” him when he secured the endorsement of 25 lawmakers for his complaint.
He said he “avoid talking to her about this” because Arroyo would have stopped him because “she doesn’t want to be accused of being behind this.”