(Eagle News) – “We have made history here in defining the impeachment process in the House of Representatives.”
This was how House committee on justice chair Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali described how the house panel had so far handled deliberations on the impeachment complaint, as well as the crafting of the articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno which 33 lawmakers had voted to approve.
The 56-page articles of impeachment will be forwarded to the House plenary, but will be taken in May, after the Congress’ scheduled break.
Only one lawmaker, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte, voted against the articles of impeachment, and the 45-page committee report.
House committee chair Umali noted how the present Supreme Court is divided, a condition that “would only escalate if the leadership in the third branch of the government continues to be dysfunctional.”
-Divided judiciary–
“At no time in our history did we ever see our judiciary as divided as now, noting that the SC en banc voted unanimously to force
their Chief to go on indefinite leave,” he said.
“The situation of our Supreme Court and of the judiciary right now is turning from bad to worse,” Umali said as he noted that just last week, organizations within the judiciary called for Sereno’s immediate resignation.
Among these were the Philippine Judges Association (PJA) the Supreme Court Assembly of Lawyer Employees (SCALE), Philippine Association of Court Employees (PACE), Supreme Court Employees Association and Sandiganbayan Employees Association expressed their desire and call for the Chief Magistrate to step down from office.
“This clearly shows the divided judiciary that would only escalate if the leadership in the third branch of government continues to be dysfunctional,” he said.
-Articles of impeachment vs Sereno-
The House Committee on Justice, after 15 deliberations, found that all four grounds for impeachment were present in the complaint against Sereno. These are culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, corruption and other high crimes.
Among the grounds for the culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust was Sereno’s alleged non-filing and non— disclosure of Sworn Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) which constituted the first article of impeachment against her.
The House Committee on Justice said that “factual circumstances prescind from the Chief Justice‘s repeated, deliberate, willful and/or inexcusable acts.” These included:
(a) alleged “misrepresentation that she is a person of proven integrity and probity when she applied for the positions of Associate Justice in 2010 and Chief Justice in 2012,” for her failure to submit her SALNs from 1996 to 2006. The committee said that her overt acts were meant to deceive the Judicial and Bar Council. Sereno allegedly failed to submit her SALNs because “it(was) reasonable to consider it infeasible to retrieve” them “and that she was cleared by UP.”
(b) alleged “failure to declare in her 11 filed SALNs for calendar years (CYs) 1998, 2002, 2006, 2009, and 2010 to 2016, the 2.24 hectares of land in Mariveles, Bataan registered in the name of spouses Mario Jose Sereno and Ma. Lourdes P.A. Sereno under Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 3896, with a current zonal value of more or less forty-four million pesos (₱44,000,000.00);”
(c) alleged “failure to declare in her two (2) filed SALN for CYs 2006 and 2009, and to disclose to the public, the total amount of around ₱13.8 million, which form part of the ₱32, 494, 805.27 million fees she earned from the PIATCO cases for the period 2004 to 2009;”
(d) alleged “failure to file her SALN seventeen (17) times for the years 1987 to 1997, 1999 to 2001, and 2003 to 2005;” and,
(e) alleged “commission of tax fraud through her failure to truthfully and accurately declare her income in her (a) income tax returns for the years 2007-2009 and in her (b) value-added tax (VAT) returns for the years 2005-2009, as well as for her failure to pay the corresponding taxes thereon.“
Umali said the second article of impeachment charged Sereno for “committing corruption and betrayal of public trust when she misused a total amount of ₱18 million of public funds thereby manifesting her grandiose sense of self-importance in the following instances:”
(a) when “she caused the procurement and purchase of a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser costing more than ₱5 million as the vehicle for the Chief Justice” This is allegedly beyond the norm of the Supreme Court for the Office of the Chief Justice. Sereno also had the vehicle bullet-proofed;
(b) when “she caused the hiring and engagement of Ms. Helen Macasaet as consultant with excessive compensation totaling to more than Eleven Million Pesos (₱11,100,000.00) and in violation of the procurement law;” and
(c) when “she caused the selection of Shangri-La Boracay as the venue for the 3rd ASEAN Chief Justices Meeting without the conduct of proper canvassing, and thereafter, arranged for a room upgrade therein misusing an amount of more or less Three Million Pesos of government funds.”
The third article of impeachment, according to the House Committee on Justice, was for Sereno’s “culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and/or other high crimes when she arrogated unto herself the powers reposed upon the Supreme Court as a collegial, deliberative and consultative body by issuing and causing to be issued Resolutions and Orders without the approval of, or contrary to what was agreed upon by the Supreme Court en banc, through acts of misrepresentation and manipulation showing a pattern of deception.”
One instance was when Sereno allegedly “created, without authority the Judiciary Decentralized Office (JDO) in the guise of reopening the Regional Court Administration Office (RCAO) in Region 7, and made it appear that such creation was sanctioned by the Supreme Court en banc.”
Another was when she allegedly issued a “Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the consolidated cases of Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines (Senior Citizens Party List) vs. COMELEC.” The committee said that this was “contrary to rules and procedures of the Supreme Court, and misrepresented that the TRO was issued upon the recommendation of the Member-in-charge Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro.”
Another instance cited by the House Committee on Justice was when Sereno allegedly “manipulated the disposition of the urgent request of the Secretary of Justice for the transfer of venue outside of Mindanao of cases involving the members of the Maute and other related groups, and falsely making it appear that the matter was raffled to her in due course, and properly decided by the Supreme Court en banc.”
Sereno also allegedly culpably violated the Constitution and betrayed public trust when she:
a. “deliberately ignored prior rulings of the Supreme Court en banc granting survivorship benefits by allowing her employees to question said rulings and to recommended that such rulings be abandoned or overturned, thereby causing undue delay in the processing and release of survivorship benefits to spouses of deceased judges and Justices;
b. appointed Hon. Geraldine Faith Econg as head of JDO and Atty. Brenda Jay Angeles-Mendoza as Chief of the Philippine Mediation Center Office (PMCO) without the approval of the Supreme Court en banc;
c. deliberately failed and refused, without justifiable reason, to appoint qualified applicants to several high-ranking positions in the Supreme Court; and,
d. ordered the dissemination of erroneous information on what transpired during the en banc deliberations on A.M. No. 16-0804-SC on the alleged involvement of four (4) incumbent judges in illegal drugs as well as undermining the co-equal power of the Executive by directing the Executive Secretary to file cases against the four judges.”
The fourth article alleges that Respondent Chief Justice Sereno “committed culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and/or other high crimes when she deliberately and maliciously abused her position as the Chief Justice and ex officio Chairperson of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).”
This was when she allegedly “deliberately and maliciously manipulated the processes of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to exclude then Solicitor General, now Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis H. Jardeleza, from the shortlist of nominees to the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, while illegally acquiring and using a highly confidential document involving national security in the process.”
The House Justice committee also accused Sereno of abusing her position as ex officio Chairperson of the JBC.
This was when she allegedly “clustered the nominees for the six (6) vacant positions of Associate Justice in the Sandiganbayan without legal basis, thereby impairing the power of the President to appoint members of the Judiciary.”
She was also accused of “misrepresenting to the members of the Supreme Court En Banc that there were Justices who requested to do away with the voting of recommended applicants to Supreme Court vacant positions.”
She also allegedly “manipulate(d) the processes of the JBC to exclude Court of Appeals Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta from the shortlist of nominees for the position of Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals.”
As a fifth article of impeachment, the House committee on justice said Sereno committed “culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust when she deliberately undermined and violated the principles of separation of powers among the three branches of government.”
This was when she allegedly “interfered with the investigation conducted by the House of Representatives, in aid of legislation, on the misuse of ₱66,450,000.00 Tobacco Funds in the Province of Ilocos Norte by issuing a Joint Statement with the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals asking the House of Representatives to reconsider its Show Cause Order against three Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals.”
She also directed the CA justices to “question any order issued by the House of Representative and to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court,” according to Umali’s recount of the Articles of Impeachment against Sereno.
Umali said Sereno also “deliberately” undermined and disrespected the impeachment proceedings conducted by the House of Representatives against her.
As a sixth article of impeachment, Umali said that Sereno also “willfully and deliberately failed to comply with her oath of office by tyrannical abuse of discretionary power.”
“These six articles are anchored on strong evidence, documentary and testimonial that will stand trial,” Umali said.
-Psychological and mental disorder-
“They are rooted from the findings of psychological and mental disorder of the Chief Justice by the two JBC psychologists and psychiatrist who examined the Chief Justice using the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder or DSM5,” he noted.
Umali noted the revelations of the JBC psychologists and psychiatrists during the executive session conducted by the Committee.
He said that Dr. Geraldine Tria observed that at least five symptoms out of the nine symptoms denied in the DSM-5 manifested in the CJ‘s complained acts.
The five symptoms allegedly found in Sereno were the following:
“(1) Interpersonally exploitative, i.e. takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends;
(2) Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power and brilliance;
(3) Lacks empathy such that there is unwillingness to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others;
(4) Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations; and
(5) Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).”
