Alvarez: House to approve charges vs Sereno by end of May
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (left) said he expected the House plenary to approve the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by the end of May. INQUIRER FILES
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez sees the House plenary approving the articles of impeachment against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by the third or fourth week of May.
The lower chamber failed to approve the articles of impeachment before Congress went on break last March 23.
“I’m sure pagbalik namin baka first week or second week tapos na kami diyan,” Alvarez said in an interview over GMA News TV’s “News to Go” Wednesday.
Congress will resume session on May 14. It will adjourn sine die on June 1.
The House leader also sees no problem in the rollout of the impeachment case against the top magistrate alongside the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) against her before the Supreme Court (SC).
“… (M)agkahiwalay na proseso iyan. Itong impeachment, ang grounds ay yung mga committed by impeachable officials serving their term of office. So yun yung exclusive yung jurisdiction namin sa Kongreso,” he explained.
“Yung quo warranto naman na inihain ng Solicitor General ay iba ang course of action. Yung quo warranto is attacking yung validity nung appointment. Ibang proseso yun,” he added.
If the High Court decides to disqualify Sereno ahead of Congress’ impeachment proceedings, Alvarez said impeachment would become “moot and academic.”
“Kasi sino pa ang ii-impeach namin kung fake pala siya na Chief Justice or fake pala siya na justice, hindi ba? Hindi naman pala siya talagang Chief Justice or justice, di wala na kaming iniimpeach,” he said.
Lawyer-complainant Lorenzo Gadon is accusing Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, corruption, and other high crimes.
Meanwhile, the OSG is seeking the Chief Justice’s disqualification for not filing her statements of assets and liabilities and net worth as required by law and by the Judicial and Bar Council that vetted the candidates for the top magistrate’s post.
The vote of at least one-third of all members of the lower House is needed to approve the articles of impeachment and transmit the case to Senate for trial.
Irked by Sereno’s insinuations that he was behind moves to oust her from office, Duterte said he would ask Congress to act swiftly on the impeachment case.
READ: If Duterte doesn’t know, why is ouster petitioner SolGen? – Sereno / Duterte declares war on Sereno
Alvarez said he would heed the call of Duterte to fast-track Sereno’s impeachment case, which he believed was a “very strong case.” /cbb
READ: Alvarez to heed Duterte’s order to remove Sereno
