FILE PHOTO: Congressman Rey Umali
MANILA, Philippines — House impeachment committee chairman Reynaldo Umali believes that the varying statements of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno regarding her indefinite leave are clear indications of a mental problem.
He added that Sereno’s changing statements verified the information that surfaced in the impeachment hearing that she always reverses the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) en banc.
One of the grounds in the impeachment complaint against Sereno is her failing marks in the psychiatric and psychological evaluation.
“Parang may sarili siyang mundo. Iba yung tingin niya sa lahat. Yun na nga, tulad ng Maute, RCAO, meron silang pinag-usapan pero iba ang lumalabas sa kaniyang isipan. Siguro this will fall under betrayal of public trust,” said the impeachment committee chair.
(It seems like she has her own world. She has a different view on everything. Like in the case of Maute, RCAO, they already had an agreement but her mind thinks differently. Maybe this will fall under betrayal of public trust.)
According to Umali, because of what was revealed in Thursday’s hearing, the Supreme Court will be facing a serious problem if the chief justice will not be removed from her post.
“I am almost certain na kung ikaw yung chief justice and you were vindicated by your acquittal, ay babalikan mo lahat ‘yan, lahat ng nagsabi sayo ng hindi maayos, maganda,” said Umali.
(I am almost certain that if you were the chief justice and you were vindicated by your acquittal, you will get back at the people who said unfavorable things about you.)
Umali is determined to order Sereno’s spokespersons to explain to the committee their flip-flopping statements to the media.
Sereno’s spokesperson, Atty. Jojo Lacanilao explained that what they stated before the media was the information that they actually had during the interview.
“We were working as spokespersons on information available to us at the time we were engaged and asked questions by the press. The developments and discussions on what transpired during the en banc on Tuesday were not privy to us,” said Lacanilao.
The legal team of the impeachment committee is now finalizing its report to be voted upon on March 8. — Grace Casin | UNTV News & Rescue
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