MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives’ justice committee, which is hearing the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, held an almost four-hour executive session Tuesday night to scrutinize the magistrate’s psychological test, which she reportedly failed.
The closed door session, which stretched Tuesday’s impeachment proceedings to 14 hours, was held at the request of Doctors Dulce Liza Sahagun Reyes and Genuina Rano, the psychiatrists said to have administered the test on Sereno, over concerns about violating the confidentiality and doctor-patient rules.
Earlier, Sereno’s camp protested saying the House “has no business scrutinizing the result of the psychological exam of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno because it does not constitute grounds for impeachment under the Constitution.”
“Congress’ concerns about removal from office should focus on the specific grounds stated in the Constitution, and the psychological report is not one of them,” Sereno’s spokesman, lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, said. “Expanding and redefining the grounds for impeachment is itself a violation of the constitutional provision.”
Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, the justice committee chair, said the test results confirmed an earlier news report that Sereno scored very poorly.
Dr. Geraldine Tria, a clinical psychiatrist who analyzed the test results, said Sereno displayed signs of “mental disturbance” and confirmed that her IQ of 109 is “average.”
On March 7, the justice panel will vote on whether there is probable cause against Sereno, after which the impeachment complaint will be submitted to the plenary.
Should the House vote to impeach her, the complaint will be submitted to the Senate for trial.
Earlier in the day, Lacanilao said Sereno would be going on a “wellness leave” to prepare for her probable Senate trial.