A Philippine congressional committee yesterday approved six articles of impeachment against the country’s Supreme Court chief justice, whose removal is being sought by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice said the six charges against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno constituted betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution and corruption.
The charges included failure to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees, misuse of public funds worth $360,000, arrogating powers of the full Supreme Court unto herself and abusing her position as chief justice.
“These six articles are anchored on strong evidence, documentary and testimonial that will stand trial,” said Representative Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the committee.
Two-thirds of the more than 200 members of the House of Representatives have to approve the articles to impeach Sereno, the first woman to lead the Supreme Court.
Once the plenary vote is made, the charges will be transmitted to the Senate, which will constitute itself into an impeachment court.
No schedule has been set for the House plenary vote.
A spokeswoman for Sereno, who has denied the charges, called on the House to expedite the process amid concerns the lawmakers were stalling the vote to allow the Supreme Court to act on a petition to remove the chief justice.
The petition, which used the same charges as the impeachment complaint, was filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida, who insisted that Sereno should be removed by her colleagues at the Supreme Court for lack of integrity.
Maria Lourdes Sereno: facing scrutiny
