MANILA – An impeachment complaint was filed before the House of Representatives on Monday against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen for various constitutional violations.
Edwin Cordevilla, secretary general of the Filipino League of Advocates For Good Government (FLAGG), filed the complaint with the assistance of lawyer Lorenzo Gadon.
Cordevilla, in his complaint before the Office of the House Secretary General, alleged that Leonen violated Section 16, Article III of the Constitution which mandates the speedy disposition of cases.
“Respondent’s track record of gross inefficiency as shown by the snail pace in which he resolves his cases casts doubts on his competency. No other sitting Justice has ever displayed the same inefficiency and incompetence,” the complaint read.
Cordevilla also claimed that Leonen also violated the Constitution for “arbitrarily, willfully, intentionally, [and] deliberately” delaying the resolution of cases pending before him as chairperson of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).
Cordevilla cited Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr.’s statement that there are still “more than 30 electoral protests” pending before the HRET almost a year after Leonen was appointed to the body in October 2019.
“Since the resolution of election controversies are a vital factor in our democracy, it is incumbent upon the Chairperson to ensure that pending election cases before the HRET are timely resolved since clearly, these cases are imbued with public interest and are time sensitive,” the complaint read.
“By failing to act on the cases pending before him both in the Supreme Court and the HRET, respondent has clearly betrayed public trust. His incompetence and inefficiency, has caused the erosion of the public’s faith in our judicial system,” it added.
Cordevilla also alleged that Leonen betrayed public trust when he failed to file his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) during his tenure at the University of the Philippines.
According to the complainant, Leonen spent 22 years in UP – from 1989 until 2011 – but, citing a “published article,” the magistrate only filed his SALNs for the years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2011.
Cordevilla also noted that Leonen failed to meet the requirements set by the Judicial and Bar Council as he “failed to file his SALN for four years,” from 2002, 2003, 2008, and 2009.
“Since respondent failed to file his SALN for 15 years, it would be difficult for the investigating authorities to pin him down in the event that a corruption case is filed against him,” the complaint read.
“If respondent wakes up one day and decides to build a castle for his retirement home, it would be next to impossible to examine his assets and net worth since these were never filed for 15 whole years,” it added.
This could also be the reason, why Leonen supposedly asked the Supreme Court maintenance division to “to commence initial preparations” for the renovation of the cottage assigned to him at the Supreme Court compound in Baguio City, he said.
Cordevilla also cited a July 17, 2020 letter from Leonen’s office addressed to the Supreme Court Office of Administrative Services stressing the “need to renovate a few areas” in the cottage.
“It is equally disgraceful that he would ask the Court to cough up P5 million for the renovation of a summer cottage – when millions of Filipinos are starving because of the pandemic,” it said.
Responding to the impeachment complaint, Leonen said that Congress should not spend its time attending to “false issues” while many Filipinos are in need.
“Given the urgent and pressing needs of our people during this time of crises, we are confident that our leaders will do the right thing,” Leonen said. “Certainly, this may not be the time to attend to false issues raised by some for clearly personal or vindictive reasons.”/PN
