The House Committee on Justice has decided to suspend until January next year its impeachment proceeding against Chief Maria Lourdes A. Sereno.
Rep. Reynaldo V. Umali of the Second District of Oriental Mindoro, the panel chairman, said his committee has decided to cut short its hearing to accommodate the ratification of 2018 P3.767-trillion general appropriations bill, Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, proposed extension of martial law in Mindanao and other important pending bills.
The 2018 national budget and the tax- reform bill are both pending before the congressional bicameral committee, while President Duterte has already asked Congress to extend martial law in Mindanao for another year.
Congress is expected to go on Christmas break on December 15 and will resume on January 15, 2018.
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Meanwhile, Associate Justice Noel Tijam said Sereno not only failed to act promptly on the request of the Department of Justice to transfer the venue of trial of cases against members of the Maute terrorist group, but also kept the court en banc in the dark on crucial information that could have allowed speedy disposition of the case.
Tijam said that while Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II submitted the initial request for the transfer of the Maute cases outside of Mindanao as early as May 29 for security reasons, the court en banc actually granted it only on August 8.
“It is important for the en banc to consider matters of urgency. And we can only consider these matters of urgency if the en banc is given full information, immediate information, complete information,” Tijam said.
According to Tijam, the Supreme Court (SC) has been penalizing judges and court personnel for inordinate delay in acting on matters assigned to them so the High Court must hold itself to an even higher standard.
On May 31 Court Administrator Midas Marquez wrote a letter to Sereno supporting Aguirre’s request. However, Tijam said, the matter was not taken up in the en banc session on June 6.
Also, Tijam said that on the same day he received a phone call from Sereno after the June 6 session, informing him that the issue was taken up during lunch after the en banc session and that the members agreed to hold the trial in Cagayan de Oro City.
Yet, the SC en banc issued a resolution on June 6 reflecting the supposed decision that was reached by the court during lunch.
“But there is distinct difference between discussing something important during the en banc session where you have the docket folders, you have the materials with you, and holding a caucus on an important matter where in front of you are forks, plates and food,” Tijam said.
In the impeachment complaint against Sereno, lawyer Lorenzo Gadon alleged that the Chief Justice committed culpable violation of the constitution when she manipulated and delayed resolution of Aguirre’s request on the transfer of venue of Maute cases.
Justice Francis Jardeleza, meanwhile, confirmed the transfer of Maute case was not taken up in the June 6 en banc session.
For her part, Justice Teresita de Castro, who is a member of the raffle panel, said the case was not actually raffled on June 5, which is inconsistent with Sereno’s claim that she is the member in charge of the case.
“The Chief Justice is not the Supreme Court. In other words, unlike the chief of a tribe in a community, the chief of a conglomerate, the chief of a group of companies, the Chief Justice cannot overrule, supersede or cancel the decision of the en banc,” Tijam added.
The four magistrates appeared at the House justice committee’s hearing on the impeachment proceeding against Sereno.
Jardeleza has testified on the allegation that Sereno manipulated the selection process of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to block his appointment to the high court.
De Castro, on the other hand, made another appearance at the continuation of the proceeding.
Brion has testified his concurring opinion that “CJ Sereno manipulated the JBC process to exclude Jardeleza as a nominee.”
Tijam, meanwhile, has testified about the allegation of foot-dragging of the SC in ordering the transfer of cases of Maute members from Cagayan de Oro to Metro Manila.
De Castro has earlier testified, saying Sereno not only altered a temporary restraining order on the Senior Citizens partylist proclamation in 2013, but also created the Judicial Decentralized Office in Region 7, contrary to resolutions the high court had approved.