(Eagle News) — The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Monday alleged that “powerful forces with vested interest” were “resorting to a well-funded propaganda war” to publicize Larry Gadon’s impeachment complaint against her.
“They constantly float new names and personalities of those who are supposed to testify against the Chief Justice. It is all part of a propaganda to make it appear that Chief Justice Sereno is losing support among her colleagues in the Supreme Court,” Winnie Salumbides, Sereno’s lawyer, said.
As for the testimonies made by some justices, Salumbides said these were “personal and admin matters that have been threshed out en banc, as it primarily pertains to its own internal rules.”
“We go back to the crucial question: are those really impeachable offenses? Definitely not,” he said.
Despite the “efforts” of these supposed powerful forces then, Salumbides said “people have not been easily duped by (Gadon’s) allegations.”
He said that there was, after all, “still no shred of real evidence to support the impeachment complaint, amid the “multitude of stories, gossip, and intrigues heaped against the Chief Justice.”
“If some members of the panel feel there’s evidence against the Chief Justice, they should simply elevate the proceedings to the Senate. There is no good reason to delay,” Salumbides said.
The House justice panel is holding hearings to determine whether there is probable cause for the complaint filed by Gadon against Sereno.
Gadon has accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, among others, for her alleged fabrication of a draft temporary restraining order pertaining to a senior citizen party-list case, and her alleged creation of the Judiciary Decentralized Office.