Umali appeals to SC to allow justices, personnel to attend Sereno impeach proceedings

House Committee on Justice chair Reynaldo Umali on Monday appealed to the Supreme Court to allow associate justices and personnel to attend the proceedings on the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

The House panel had invited associate justices and personnel to the hearing to shed light on the allegations that lawyer Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon made in his impeachment complaint.

They, however, could not attend the hearing pending clearance from the Supreme Court en banc, which would meet on Tuesday.

"We request the SC en banc when they have their meeting tomorrow, authority will be granted for those who were invited," Umali said.

Umali noted that they do not have the luxury of time to discuss all 27 allegations in the impeachment complaint.

He earlier said he is expecting that their report on their deliberations be presented and acted upon in the plenary by December 13.

"We earnestly request because we only have limited time for this impeachment hearing. We only have 60 session days. Nabawasan tayo because of ASEAN and many other work of the HOR, na-move back so as of now medyo humaba pa ang oras natin," Umali said.

Associate Justice Teresita de Castro, one of the invited resource speakers, however, said that if she gets clearance from the Supreme Court, she will attend the hearing.

The House justice panel is deliberating to find probable cause on the impeachment case against Sereno. — Erwin Colcol/RSJ, GMA News