House still has until year-end to act on Sereno impeachment

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas

The House of Representatives still has until the end of the year to act on the impeachment of ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said on Monday.

Fariñas replied in the affirmative when asked by a reporter if the rules committee still has until the resumption of Congress on July 23 to put the matter on the plenary agenda.

Congress will have nine session days before adjourning for a recess. Under the rules, the rules committee chaired by Fariñas has 10 session days to put matters on the calendar.

The 10th session day would fall on the same day as President Duterte’s delivery of his third State of the Nation Address.

Fariñas also confirmed that the House plenary would have 60 session days to act on the matter once it is put on the agenda. With three session days a week, this could very well give the House until the end of the year to finally resolve the issue.

Fariñas reiterated that the House should wait for Sereno’s planned appeal to be resolved first before it acts on the matter of impeachment “out of respect to a co-equal department that has ruled that it has jurisdiction over the matter of the legality of the appointment.”

Instead of awaiting her impeachment on grounds that mostly concern her performance as Chief Justice, the SC on May 11 opted to oust Sereno by granting the Solicitor-General’s quo warranto petition and declaring her 2012 appointment null and void from the start.