House to wrap up Sereno impeachment hearing

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The House of Representatives justice committee will wrap up on Tuesday its hearings on the determination of probable cause in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Committee chair Rep. Reynaldo Umali said that after the final hearing on Tuesday, the body’s members would vote on the first week of March on the allegations to be included in the articles of impeachment to be filed against Sereno before the Senate acting as an impeachment court.

By the second week of March, Umali said the committee report could be deliberated and approved by the plenary, impeaching Sereno.

In a Sunday interview with radio station dzBB, he said the House’s leaders were still in talks with their Senate counterparts on the timetable of the impeachment trial proceedings.

Psychiatrists’ testimonies

“Perhaps they are still tweaking their agenda or legislative calendar in the Senate, because they are still busy with BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law) and Cha-cha (Charter change),” he said.

For the final hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers are expected to hear the testimonies of two psychiatrists who evaluated Sereno when she applied for the position of Chief Justice.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue is also expected to disclose its preliminary findings regarding the alleged “discrepancies” it found on Sereno’s tax records regarding the fees she earned from the government as the lawyer handling the case against Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc.