Sereno impeachment case: Justices need SC approval to testify in House

Complainant Lorenzo Gadon attends the House of Representatives deliberation on impeachment of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Published: 7:13 p.m., Nov. 26, 2017 | Updated: 12:14 a.m., Nov. 27, 2017

Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro may be cited for violating the high court’s internal rules if she testifies against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in the impeachment hearing at the House of Representatives without full-court approval, according to a spokesperson for the country’s top magistrate.

The same goes for other Supreme Court justices and officials who have been invited by the committee to testify at the impeachment hearings, although they are unlikely to appear before the panel on Monday as they first have to get clearance from the full court, said Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, the committee chair.

“The [Supreme Court] sessions are executive in character, with only its members present. The deliberations are confidential and should not be disclosed to outside parties, except if authorized by the court,” the spokesperson for Sereno, Aldwin Salumbides, said in a statement on Sunday.

Deliberations confidential

The policies spelled out in the internal rules of the Supreme Court “safeguard the confidentiality of sessions and internal documents” of the country’s highest judicial body, Salumbides said.

The rollos, or court documents, may be released “only upon an official written request from the judicial staff head or the chief of office of the requesting office,” he said.

“All [people] handling the rollos are bound by the same strict confidentiality rules,” he added.

Salumbides’ remarks came on the heels of an invitation from the House justice committee to De Castro to attend its hearing on Monday on the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon against Sereno.

At the hearing on Wednesday, Gadon identified De Castro as the source of confidential information that he claimed was given to him by Manila Times reporter Jomar Canlas involving a temporary restraining order that was allegedly tampered with by Sereno.

But De Castro issued a statement as the hearing was going on, denying she released to Canlas “any information, report or document regarding the work of the court.”

Gadon may be liable for perjury if the information is proved to be false.

“This is under oath and so he will have to answer for his actions,” Umali told reporters after the hearing on Wednesday.

Lawmakers on the justice committee agreed to invite De Castro to testify at the hearing on Monday, but Salumbides said he did not believe she would appear before the panel.

Highly irregular

“As a lawyer, I find it highly irregular for a magistrate, for a Supreme Court justice, to go down and take the witness stand. It gives me goose bumps. It seems inappropriate for a justice to suddenly turn witness,” he said.

If she does without full-court approval, she may be cited for violating the high court’s internal rules, he said.

Besides De Castro, Supreme Court Associate Justice Noel Tijam, Court Administrator Midas Marquez, Public Information Office chief Theodore Te and full-court clerk Felipa Anama have also been invited to testify at the hearings.

But Umali, speaking in a radio interview on Sunday, said the justices and other Supreme Court officials would “most likely not” appear in Monday’s hearing because they needed to secure full-court approval first.

The full court meets on Tuesdays.

‘They are willing’

“They are willing, except that they need the approval of [the full court],” Umali said.

Gadon has accused Sereno of failing to declare her real wealth, buying a luxury car using government funds and making questionable decisions without consulting the rest of the court, among other charges.

Earlier, Umali’s panel had determined that Gadon’s complaint was sufficient in form and substance.

The panel is now trying to determine whether there is probable cause to impeach Sereno.

A two-thirds vote of the 239-member House is needed to send the case to the Senate for trial.

Gadon claimed Sereno called Tijam to manipulate the transfer of the cases involving members of the Maute terror group.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II may also not attend Monday’s hearing to testify on this issue.

Umali said “they [could be] accommodated on Tuesday” instead.

The justice committee would tackle another seven allegations against Sereneo after deliberating on seven accusations on Wednesday, he said.

Subpoena for Sereno

Umali said the committee was still “studying” if Sereno could be subpoenaed to answer the allegations, as she had repeatedly declined to face her accuser and pressed for her lawyers to represent her instead.

He said the committee had power to issue an arrest warrant for Sereno, if she would not heed the subpoena.

“If there are things that she should testify on, the committee might probably issue a subpoena. And a subpoena has coercive powers; if it is not followed, we would be obliged to issue a warrant,” Umali said.

“This is a constitutional power to pursue a constitutional mandate in which … the separation of powers [as a] coequal branch may not … be invoked in this particular instance,” he said. /atm /pdi