JBC rejects request for release of Sereno’s psychiatric test results

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has rejected the request of the lawyer seeking for the impeachment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to release the psychological and psychiatric evaluation results of the top magistrate.

In junking the request of lawyer Larry Gadon, the JBC cited Section 3, Rule 6 of the Revised JBC Rules, which provides that the "results of the examination (psychological and psychiatric evaluation) are strictly confidential and are to be used solely by the Council for evaluation purposes only."

Gadon, however, said the screening body now chaired by Sereno was not bound by this rule since the office of chief justice is imbued with public interest.

A newspaper report in August 2012 said Sereno were among the candidates for chief justice post who got the lowest psychological evaluation ratings.

The report cited an 11-page Psychiatric and Psychological Report submitted to the JBC by a group of two medical psychiatrists and two psychologists.

It said Sereno got a grade of “four” after the tests which had a five-point numerical rating system where 1 is the highest or best, 3 is the median and five is the lowest or a failing mark.

The Manila Times report said based on her Psychiatric and Psychological Report, Sereno is “dramatic and emotional,” keeps a smiling face to project that she is happy, and that she may tend to “make decisions based on current mood.”

Gadon's complaint pending before the House of Representatives contains allegations such as Sereno's anomalous purchase of a luxury vehicle and undeclared earnings from her stint as part of the government's legal team in the expropriation case against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc.

A separate impeachment complaint was filed by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc (VPCI).

Twenty-five lawmakers have endorsed Gadon complaint while 16 have backed the VACC-Vanguard complaint, which would be heard by the House justice committee for resolution. —KBK, GMA News