MANILA, Philippines — Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chair of the House Committee on Justice, on Monday slammed the lawyers of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno after calling the panel’s impeachment proceedings against the chief magistrate a “dog and pony show.”
During the second hearing on the impeachment complaint against Sereno, Umali warned the lawyers to respect the impeachment committee or the committee would use its coercive powers against them.
“If I may just enjoin the lawyers, please respect this impeachment committee lest we will be forced to again use coercive powers of the court of this impeachment committee and all other powers that are vested in the House of Representatives para lang po maging maayos ang ating proceeding [so that our proceedings can be orderly].
The committee is currently holding a series of hearings to determine if there is probable cause in the complaint filed by lawyer Larry Gadon against Sereno.
Last week, the committee rejected Sereno’s plea to allow her lawyers to cross-examine the witnesses in the impeachment complaint filed against her.
Over the weekend, two of the lawyers representing Sereno, Joshua Santiago and Aldwin Salumbides, questioned the House panel for allegedly prolonging the impeachment proceedings against the chief justice and called it a “dog and pony show.”
Umali also told Sereno’s lawyers to keep their opinions regarding the impeachment proceedings to themselves and not resort to “name-calling.”
“We are trying darndest best to be fair. And if you feel this committee has not been fair to their client, keep it to yourself. Discuss n’yo [You discuss it] among yourselves,” he said,
“But don’t resort to name-calling or putting or casting aspersions in this impeachment committee because may hangganan din po ang pasensya namin [because our patience also has limits]. And I hope we will not come to that,” he added.