Palace denies involvement on impeachment vs. Sereno

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MANILA – Malacanang reiterated on Thursday that it is not involved in the recent impeachment move against Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno in connection with the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF).

Though commenting that the impeachment complaint might be a product of the comprehensive investigation the Congress is conducting on the JDF, Malacanang said, they are not participating in the impeachment movement.

“Ang tingin lang namin, plainly and simply, ito ay naging bunga ng kanilang isinasagawang pagsusuri sa JDF,” Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. said at a televised press briefing.

(We believe that it is, plainly and simply, a product of the investigation they are conducting on JDF.)

“Walang partisipasyon ang ehekutibo sa anumang hakbangin sa impeachment na ‘yan,”  he added.

(The executive is not participating in any of that impeachment movement.)

Coloma also said that the Congress, being another co-equal branch of the judiciary and the executive branches, is only doing its function to check and balance the other branch.

The statement was made amid reports that several lawmakers are planning to conduct an impeachment movement against the chief justice.

According to an earlier statement by Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, vice chairman of the House committee on justice investigating the JDF, Sereno can be impeached if technical malvbersation in the misuse of the JDF is proven.

He also added that the said violation is an impeachable offense.

Umali was also among the lead prosecutors who lead the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.