House justice committee to hear impeach raps vs. Sereno on Wednesday

The House justice committee will start hearing on Wednesday the two impeachment complaints against Chief Justice (CJ) Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Panel chairman Reynaldo Umali said they will decide the sufficiency in form and substance of the two complaints during the hearing.

"We will start with CJ Sereno impeachment proceeding and what you can expect tomorrow is we will vote upon the form and substance of the [Atty. Larry] Gadon complaint and then we will proceed to determine the sufficiency of form and substance of the VACC (Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption) complaint," Umali told reporters in an interview.

The two impeachment complaints were lodged against Sereno by VACC founding chairman Dante Jimenez and Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc. president Eligio Mallari and Gadon.

Gadon's complaint has been endorsed by 25 congressmen, while Jimenez and Mallari's complaint has 16 endorsers.

Umali said the complaints will be deemed dismissed if they fail the sufficiency test.

"But if it does, we will now require the Chief Justice to answer or submit her answer to the two complaints. Then we will join the issues, thereafter we will start with the impeachment proceeding which is analogous to the preliminary investigation conducted by fiscals in criminal proceedings," he added.

The justice committee chair said the complainants and endorsers are expected to be present in the hearing.

"The complainants, we will ask question. We will have to satisfy and this will be the individual assessment of each [committee] member on whether or not he or she is convinced that there is sufficient or the complaint in sufficient in form and substance," he said.

However, the complainants will not be allowed yet to present their witnesses during Wednesday's hearing, Umali said.

"Witnesses will come after the [Chief Justice's] answer is filed and we start the 'preliminary investigation,'" he said.

Gadon earlier said that two Supreme Court justices may testify against Sereno.

Sereno is likewise not required to be physically present in tomorrow's hearing, Umali said.

"If she wants to appear of course we will welcome that. It is her constitutional right to confront the witnesses. Her presence would give the opportunity to question or raise issue about certain or clarification of some alleged acts committed supposedly violative of the Constitution," he added.

The justice panel chair, however, is not expecting to finish determining the sufficiency of form and substance of the complaints on Wednesday.

"We have 41 people endorsing. I don’t know how many will be there to substantiate the complaint itself. We will try  to give them time. We hope we can resolve this in the soonest," he said.

But once it is established that the discussion for the complaints is extensive enough for them decide, Umali said he, as chair, will try to get the votes of the members right away.

Aside from the complaint against Sereno, the justice committee is also expected to hear the impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista. —ALG, GMA News