Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 23) — A lawyer with a pending property dispute case before the Supreme Court offered evidence of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s alleged incompetence for her impeachment trial.
Atty. Eligio Mallari, president of advocacy group Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, accused Sereno of sitting on the petitions for mandamus and certiorari he filed in connection with his three-decade legal battle against the Philippine National Bank (PNB) for control of two parcels of land in San Fernando, Pampanga.
“Itong expose ni Atty. Mallari, I tell you, has bearing on the pending impeachment against the Chief Justice kasi ito ay may profound implications sa kanyang continuous possession of qualifications as chief judge and member of the highest court,” Mallari’s counsel, Atty. Manuelito Luna, said Sunday.
Mallari claimed his petitions have yet to be resolved after five years. He believes Sereno isn’t acting on his petitions because PNB wrote her a letter asking to investigate allegations of influence peddling against him.
Since PNB wrote Sereno on February 8, 2013, Mallari said nothing has happened to his case.
He added Sereno hasn’t included the letter in the agenda of either the Supreme Court en banc or the First Division, which she chairs, so it could be discussed by the other Justices.
“Pag sinulatan ng isang abogado ang Korte Supreme at pending ang kaso [If a lawyer writes to the Supreme Court and the case stays pending], this is a serious misconduct. And a Chief Justice who does not divulge this to his or her peers in the Supreme Court much less agenda this for deliberation, may be held to account under the Constitution for an impeachable offense,” Luna added.
Luna said they will submit the PNB’s letter and other related documents to Larry Gadon, the complainant in Sereno’s impeachment case, so it could be presented during the trial at the Senate.
Mallari also filed an impeachment complaint against Sereno, along with Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption founding chair Dante Jimenez, but it was dismissed by the House justice committee in September for being insufficient in form
In a text message, Gadon said he’s waiting for Mallari’s camp to turn the documents over to him.
Meanwhile, Sereno’s camp declined to comment on Mallari’s allegations since he has pending disciplinary cases before the Supreme Court.
CNN Philippines’ correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report.
