THE camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno last Sunday belittled the possible testimony of Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro on the impeachment proceedings against the former before the House of Representatives.
However, lawyer Aldwin Salumbides, one of Sereno’s spokesmen, said it would be “highly irregular” for de Castro or any magistrate to take the witness stand, especially in an impeachment proceeding against a fellow justice who happens to be the head of the entire Judiciary.
De Castro has reportedly agreed to appear in the House Justice Committee hearings this week against Sereno.
“As a lawyer, I find it highly irregular for a magistrate, for a Supreme Court [SC] justice to go down and take the witness stand. I think it’s unconventional for a magistrate to become a witness,” Salumbides said.
“Whether it would affect our defense, we are not worried at all. We don’t see any reason to be worried about it,” he added.
The lawyer also hinted that de Castro might be held accountable for violation of the confidentiality rule in the SC after she was named as source of some information and documents by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, a complainant in the impeachment case, during a hearing last week.
Salumbides cited possible violation of the Internal Rules of the SC, which safeguards the confidentiality of sessions and internal documents of the High Tribunal.
He explained that SC sessions are executive in character, with only its members present, and that deliberations are confidential and should not be disclosed to outside parties, except if authorized by the Court.
He added that SC rollos, or records of cases, may only be released upon an official written request from the Judicial staff head or the chief of office of the requesting office and that all persons handling them are bound by the same strict confidentiality rules.
However, the SC has already approved earlier the release of certified copies of records and documents for the impeachment case against Sereno as sought by Gadon and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, whose separate impeachment complaint was dismissed by the House panel.
The documents included the Chief Justice’s statements of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN), records of her foreign and domestic travels and documents about her custom-made bulletproof car.
The records also included SC’s administrative ruling that voided Sereno’s decision to create a regional court administration office in Cebu for lack of authority to unilaterally issue administrative decisions without approval of the collegial court.
The SC did not approve the release of de Castro’s internal memorandum filed in the High Court in July questioning several administrative orders of Sereno, including the appointment of a Philippine Judicial Academy official and the provision for travel allowances of her staff.
The High Court explained that it has yet to decide and act on issues raised by de Castro, which, therefore, remained pending and covered by the confidentiality rule.
De Castro has denied providing information to a reporter on Sereno’s alleged falsification of several SC documents, including a temporary restraining order on party-list proclamations, as claimed by Gadon during hearing last Wednesday.