The Chief Justice is on the fighting mood!
The lawyers of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes
Sereno has called out the House of Representatives to bring to a plenary vote
the articles of impeachment against the country’s top magistrate and
immediately transmit these to the Senate. They are urging the Impeachment trial
to begin as soon as possible in order to determine whether or not there is
basis to remove her from the Supreme Court.
The top magistrate has been reiterating her
call to give her day in court so that she can properly defend herself against
all the accusations hurled against her.
In a prepared statement , lawyer lawyer Josa
Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, said pro-impeachment lawmakers should
expedite the process and prove their case before the Senate, which, together
with the House, has the “exclusive authority to discipline all impeachable
officers for any impeachable offense.”
Deinla said that for her part, the Chief
Justice is now in the “advanced stage of preparation” for her looming impeachment
trial in the Senate.
The Chief Justice who is currently on an
indefinite leave, has made it known to the public that it was meant for her to
prepare for the upcoming impeachment trial proper in the Senate. A few weeks
ago 13 justices urged the Chief Justice to take an indefinite leave so as to
save the integrity of the Supreme Court.
Lawyer Larry Gadon was the one who filed
the impeachment complaint against CJ Sereno, the former claim that the top
magistrate failed declare in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth
(SALN) the “exorbitant lawyer’s fees” of
USD745,000 (PHP37 million) which she received from the Philippine government.
Gadon also alleged that Sereno committed
corruption when she, among other things, used public funds to finance her
extravagant and lavish lifestyle by ordering the purchase of a brand-new
luxurious Toyota Land Cruiser 2017 model as her personal vehicle, amounting to
more than PHP5 million; and stay in opulent hotels when attending conferences
in the country and abroad.
According to her lawyers, the Chief
Justice can answer and will prove all the allegations against her is not true
and can readily be countered by her legal team.
“The Chief Justice eagerly awaits the
transmittal of the articles of impeachment to the Senate where she is ready to
defend herself against the unfair, unjust and malicious allegations, which are
the bases of the obviously biased impeachment proceedings conducted by the
House Committee on Justice,” Deinla said.
Deinla maintains that the Chief Justice
has not done anything against any law or any impeachable act to merit her
removal from office.
The Chief Justice, she said, strongly
believes that the truth is on her side.
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