Panel report may be used as basis in filing raps vs. Sereno —Rep. Umali

The report of the House Committee on Justice on the impeachment complaint against ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno may be used as basis in filing charges against her, according to panel chairman Reynaldo Umali.

Umali made the statement on Tuesday after the Supreme Court denied Sereno's motion for reconsideration on the granting of the quo warranto petition against her.

"The report is an open document, it is a public document. Once this report is approved by the House in plenary, then that can serve as basis in pursuing cases," Umali told reporters in an ambush interview.

The House of Representatives had stalled its action on the justice panel's committee report on Sereno's impeachment complaint pending the final decision of the Supreme Court on the quo warranto petition against her.

The petition, which questions the validity of Sereno's appointment to the top magistrate post, was granted by the court on May 11.

Following the court's final ruling, Umali said they will only present his panel's committee report to the plenary "and declare it moot and academic."

The decision to file cases against Sereno, however, will be left to the discretion of the executive department, Umali said.

"Nasa executive na 'yan. Sabi ko nga, our role is just to prosecute it. Kung wala itong quo warranto, sa Senado. Any and all other executive actions that we will have against the Chief Justice, we will leave it to the executive to pursue," he said.

Prior to the granting of the quo warranto petition, the House justice panel had prepared six articles of impeachment against Sereno consisting of the grounds of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes. —KBK, GMA News