Exclusion of non-justice panel members from Sereno impeach proceedings assailed

Leftist lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Wednesday decried the Committee on Justice's decision to disallow non-members from participating in the deliberations on the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

In an ambush interview, ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio stressed that it is the right of every member of the House to participate in the deliberations of any committee.

"Hindi ito ang unang impeachment na ginawa ng Congress. Kahit sinong member, basta interesado, pinapahintulutang magtanong whether pro or against," he said.

"Pero ngayon lang nangyari sa Kongresong ito na pinagbawal ang non-members ng justice committee na lumahok at mag-participate," he added.

Voting 30-4, the House panel approved the motion of AKO BICOL party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr. to deny the motion of Sereno's lawyers to allow them to conduct the cross-examination on her behalf.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate said this decision will set a bad precedent for the future impeachment proceedings.

"Tingin natin itong impeachment complaint ay [na-file] para pahinain ang ating mga institusyon at ilagay sa alanganin lahat ng mga institusyon at personalidad na 'di sumasang-ayon sa tindig ng kasalukuyang administrasyon," he said.

"This is a sad and bad day for the House of Representatives na 'di binigyan ng karapatan na matagal nang tradisyon na may karapatan lahat ng member na magtanong lalo na sa napakaimportanteng proceeding gaya ng impeachment," Zarate added.

House panel chair Reynaldo Umali, however, clarified that Sereno's lawyers may still ask questions in the deliberation through the members of the panel or through the chairman himself.

The panel will continue its deliberation on the impeachment case of Sereno next week. —KBK, GMA News