House committee dismisses impeach raps vs 7 SC justices
THE Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives on Tuesday dismissed the impeachment complaint filed against the seven justices who voted to oust then chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto.
Voting 23-1, the panel voted against the motion that Rep. Ramon Rocamora filed, claiming that the complaint was insufficient in substance.
Oriental Mindoro 1st District Rep. Salvador Leachon presided over the hearing which attended by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“The requirement of substance is met if there is a recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the committee,” complainant Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said, citing Rule 3 Section 4 of House Rules on Impeachment.
However, lawmakers found the complaint insufficient in substance for lack of concrete evidence that support it.
“Reading the complaints themselves, I fount it an opinionated and speculative recital of facts,” 1-Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta said.
Rep. Henry Oaminal of Misamis Occidental 2nd District added that there is nothing in the complaint that supports the violation of the justices.
“I believe that the impeachment complaint is more a political rather than a legal one,” he added.
“These justices should not be punished for respecting a co-equal branch of government, and instead should be lauded for recognizing the system of checks and balances,” said Rep. Strike Bautista Revilla of Cavite 2nd District.
In his rebuttal, Lagman maintained that the quo warranto petition against Sereno was “malevolent, orchestrated, conspiratorial and malicious.”
He added that although the complaint was political in format, it was technically judicial in essence.
Aside from Lagman, Representatives Teddy Baguilat of Ifugao and Gary Alejano of Magdalo party-list filed the complaint on August 23 against then Associate Justice now Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr, and Alexander Gesmundo for allegedly committing culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in connection with their May 11 decision to remove Sereno outside of impeachment, which is provided for under the 1987 Constitution. GLEE JALEA
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