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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Thursday, March 1, 2018
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MANILA – Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will have an “indefinite” leave to prepare for her expected impeachment hearing before the Senate, her lawyer said.
“Iyon pong kanyang indefinite leave, parang indefinite po yata ang mangyayari kasi hindi po natin alam kung gaano katagal ang preparasyon at saka ang trial sa Senado ay parang kinarga niya sa aprubadong wellness leave niya,” Atty. Carlo Cruz told a news conference on Wednesday.
Cruz’s statement was contrary to what Atty. Jojo Lacanilao, another Sereno lawyer, said on Tuesday that the chief justice just take a two-week “wellness leave.”
“Ang dalawang panig po dito ay pareho namang tama na wellness leave po ito, pero meron po siyang discretion na pwede niya pong patagalin pa,” Cruz clarified.
With regard to reported pressure from her fellow magistrates to resign, Cruz said: “Ang tamang word po siguro na gamitin ay ‘suggestion’ pero, bilang punong mahistrado, kailangan pong panindigan iyan, ang kasarinlan ng ating Korte Suprema.”
‘NO TAX DEFICIENCIES’
Lacanilao denied what the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) disclosed that the chief justice could be liable for at least P2.014 million in back taxes from 2004 to 2009.
BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa testified in a House hearing that Sereno did not report her earnings as government lawyer in a case against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co., Inc. (Piatco).
Sereno “declared all the income she received and she paid all the taxes that she needed to pay,” Lacanilao said. “We will answer the accusation further when the impeachment complaint is filed before the Senate.”
The chief justice could have explained better if only she was “informed of her supposed tax deficiencies beforehand,” said the lawyer.
According to the BIR, Sereno earned about P32.5 million in legal fees as a lawyer with the Office of the Solicitor General in the case against Piatco, builder of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
Guballa claimed that Sereno substantially declared all income and legal fees from the case in her income tax returns from 2004 to 2009 but there were discrepancies amounting to about P2.014 million.
PSYCH TEST
In addition, psychological incapacity is not enough ground for Sereno to be impeached, Lacanilao said.
“Hindi naman iyan ‘passed,’ ‘failed.’ Iyon (psychological exam) ay tumutulong lang para sa Judicial and Bar Council to see the psychological profile, to help them to decide,” he said.
Two psychiatrists found that Sereno exhibited five symptoms of an emotional and dramatic type of personality – grandiosity, sense of unlimited power, sense of entitlement, exploitative, and lack of empathy – clinical psychologist Dr. Geraldine Tria said.
Tria did not personally examine Sereno but did a follow-up psychological evaluation. She said Sereno was unfit as chief justice because her psychological state greatly affects her decision-making./PN
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