Sereno spokesman: Justice Peralta has ax to grind with Chief Justice

A lawyer on Monday said Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta has an ax to grind with Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

“Justice Peralta should have some delicadeza in not allowing personal disappointments to color his testimonies before the [House] justice committee,”  lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, one of the spokespersons of Sereno, said in a statement.

Lacanilao said Peralta's wife, Court of Appeals associate justice Audrey Peralta, was excluded from the shortlist of nominees for CA Presiding Justice submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to President Rodrigo Duterte last year after some of her documentary requirements were unvalidated.

Sereno is currently the ex-officio chair of the JBC.

At the resumption of the House committee on justice hearing to determine probable cause on the impeachment complaint against Sereno, Peralta said the top magistrate should not have been included in the list of nominees of the JBC for the position of high magistrate in 2012 because she was not able to submit the required statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Lacanilao said Sereno complied with all the requirements for her application for the position in 2012, including the submission of her  SALNs,

"Wala namang ginawa si Chief Justice kundi nag-apply lamang siya at nag-comply doon sa mga requirements at pumayag iyong JBC sa mga requirements na binigay niya. Anong kasalanan ni CJ Sereno?" lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, one of Sereno's spokespersons, told reporters in an ambush interview.

Lacanilao said that the fact that Peralta, who then presided over the selection of chief justice, signed the endorsement of the list of nominees to be submitted to then-President Benigno Aquino III for selection means that they found her documentary submissions compliant with the rules.

"Paalala ko lang sa inyo na noong July 2012, pumirma siya [Peralta] ng endorsement noong list para kay President Aquino bilang acting chair," Lacanilao said.

"So mahirap pong sabihin na hindi ko alam na nangyari 'yon na meron namang lumabas na kasulatan na pinadala sa Malacañang na siya ang nakapirma. So hindi ko maisip kung bakit niya sasabihin na 'hindi ko alam ito,'" he added.

SC Associate Justice Teresita de Castro told the justice panel that it was a "grave injustice" to  her and other candidates for the chief justice that the JBC did not require Sereno to submit all her SALNs.

De Castro said she submitted a letter to the JBC stating that she could not submit any of her SALNs when she was UP Law professor.

She said Sereno did not even attempt to submit the 2002 SALN that was in the possession of the UP Human Resource Office.

JBC executive director Annaliza Ty-Capacite, however, said the application process was different at the time.

"The executive committee members do not determine yet whether a candidate should be included or excluded because of [lack of] requirements," she said.

"Those lacking requirements will still be interviewed or be given another deadline," she added.

Capacite explained that the applicant had "substantially complied" with the requirements for the position despite failure to submit SALNs for a period of time if "there is an attempt to comply."

She also later confirmed in the hearing that Sereno submitted three of her SALNs, for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. —ALG/BM, GMA News