House justice committee chair Reynaldo Umali. Noy Morcoso/Inquirer.net
There might be no more Senate hearing regarding former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s impeachment case.
These were the words of House justice committee chair Rep. Reynaldo Umali on Sunday when asked on the fate of Sereno.
Umali said that since the Supreme Court (SC) already ousted Sereno from her seat as the chief magistrate of the country, an impeachment hearing might not push through.
“’Yung impeachment, ang assumption nun ay valid ‘yung appointment, pero sinabi na ng Korte Suprema na invalid ‘yung appointment dahil nga hindi siya qualified, and so because of that, tinanggal na siya and ‘yun lang din naman ang purpose ng impeachment, para tanggalin siya,” Umalis said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.
(The assumption in the impeachment case is that her appointment is valid, but the Supreme Court has already said that her appointment is invalid because she’s not qualified, and so because of that, she was removed. And the only purposed of impeachment is to remove her.)
“Hindi na siguro tayo aabot na maghearing pa sa Senado (We probably won’t have Senate hearings),” he added.
Sereno was ousted by the SC on Friday after eight justices approved the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida — the principal lawyer of the government. /je
READ: Peers kick Sereno out via Calida’s QW