House hears impeach complaint vs new Chief Justice, 6 SC justices on Sept. 4
THE Justice panel of the House of Representatives will tackle the impeachment complaint lodged against the newly appointed Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro and six Supreme Court justices on September 4, the chairman of the committee said on Sunday.
“I was already informed that the complaints will be included in the Order of Business on Tuesday [during plenary session]. Under the [House] rules, we have [a]three-day notice rule. Of course, we have to notify the respondents and secondly, produce copies for the 55 members. So our target date [for discussing it]will be September 4, at the earliest,” Leachon said in a radio interview.
Leachon was referring to the impeachment complaint lodged by opposition lawmakers Edcel Lagman, Teddy Baguilat of Ifugao, Gary Alejano of Magdalo party-list and Tomasito Villarin of Akbayan party-list on the grounds that the unprecedented removal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno last May was unconstitutional since the Constitution only provides that officials such as the Chief Justice can only be removed via impeachment and that the House and the Senate has the sole authority to initiate and resolve impeachment cases, respectively.
The complaint was filed against de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr, and Alexander Gesmundo.
The opposition lawmakers filed the impeachment complaint last Thursday. House rules require the House to include the verified impeachment raps of the opposition lawmakers in the Order of Business for plenary consideration within 10 session days. Once it is calendared in the Order of Business, the plenary is required to refer to the appropriate House committee—in this case the House Justice panel—within the next three session days.
The House Justice panel will then have 60 session days to decide if the impeachment complaints are sufficient in form and substance and will send its Committee Report to the plenary, which will then have to act on the report within 10 session days from its receipt.
“Considering that the complaints actually deal with the same subject matter, same issues, similar concerns that will be jointly heard by the committee on justice. There are seven, so it will be a joint hearing to make it easier and simple,” Leachon said.
It will be tough for Lagman and company from hereon since time and numbers are not on their side, considering that the House only holds sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There are also over 200 administration lawmakers who allied with President Rodrigo Duterte who paved the way for Sereno’s ouster as Chief Justice.
Lagman concedes that it is an uphill climb but maintains that such hurdles should not deter him and his colleagues from fighting for their cause.
“It’s possible that Congress won’t be able to finish it (discuss the impeachment complaints in time) but we need to do this to make a point that these justices should be disqualified from seeking the highest position in the judiciary,” Lagman said.
President Duterte appointed de Castro as Chief Justice on Saturday, but the pendency of the impeachment complaint could still make a dent since de Castro would be vacating the post in October when she retires. At this point, other justices who voted in favor of Sereno’s removal via quo warranto can again apply for the Chief Justice post. LLANESCA T. PANTI
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