Sereno takes a break: Wellness leave or indefinite?

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

Update

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno only took a 15-day “wellness leave” from March 1 to 15 to prepare for her impending impeachment trial in the Senate, her spokesperson insisted amid conflicting reports that she was forced by her Supreme Court colleagues to go on indefinite leave.

At the sidelines of the House of Representatives justice committee’s last impeachment hearing on Tuesday, Jojo Lacanilao told reporters that Sereno’s leave had long been scheduled even before the proceedings against her began.

Sereno would just take her regular break earlier than the originally scheduled period of March 12 to 23, he said.

While Lacanilao could not say what exactly Sereno would do or where she would be while on leave, he said: “Her intention is to think about how to prepare for the Senate trial.”

“She is not ill. Even if we’re not sick, we need some kind of break, especially when facing stress,” he said. “It’s not that she’s stressed out. If you say ‘stressful situation,’ that’s a correct description.”

READ: Sources say Sereno to go on ‘indefinite’ leave but CJ’s camp refutes it

Lacanilao, however, declined to comment about reports that Sereno’s colleagues have called on her to resign or take an indefinite leave during the Tuesday en banc session, since non-justices like him “do not know what’s happening inside.”

“Whatever is the call, Chief Justice Sereno has no plans to resign,” he said. “She believes she did not commit an impeachable offense, so she has no plans to resign.”’

It is not unheard of for SC justices to take wellness leaves from time to time.

Umali unconvinced

But, justice committee chair Rep. Reynaldo Umali was not convinced and was even peeved when he heard the reports on Lacanilao’s remarks.

“What comes out of her mouth, her spokespersons’ mouths is different. Even the spokespersons have been infected by her lies,” Umali said as he presided over the last clarificatory hearing held on the impeachment complaint.

“There is a continuing pattern of lies and deception. On simple matters such as this, there are still badges of misrepresentation,” he said.

READ: SC en banc forced Sereno to go on leave – Umali

Meanwhile, complainant Lorenzo Gadon told reporters in a separate interview: “She should really just resign. It’s very obvious that the writing’s on the wall and she would not get past this.”

Leave not an admission of defeat

Opposition lawmaker Rep. Tomasito Villarin told reporters that Sereno’s wellness leave “gives CJ Sereno some respite from a highly toxic environment as she prepares herself for a battle of a lifetime.”

“While it is highly probable that the House will move for her impeachment, her wellness leave is not an admission of defeat but a tactical move to consolidate defense,” Villarin said. “While she may have strained relations with other Justices of the SC, judicial independence should not be sacrificed at the altar of individual irreconcilable differences.”

Likewise, Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate scored “spin doctors” who would like to portray Sereno’s leave as a “victory that would lead to her eventual resignation.”

“But if one is to study the supposed evidence presented during this long-drawn impeachment hearings against the Chief Justice, there is no sufficient ground for her to be impeached. The hearings were reduced to a fishing expedition to gather evidence for Gadon’s specious complaint,” said the progressive lawmaker.