MANILA, Philippines — Three colleagues of embattled Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno in the Supreme Court have refuted her claims that the hearings on her impeachment case at the House of Representatives undermine the independence of the judiciary. 

“We see this (impeachment hearing) as part of the constitutional scheme, a reasonable exercise of your (lawmakers) power to impeach,” Justice Lucas Bersamin told House Deputy Speaker Ferdinand Hernandez during Monday’s proceedings. 

His fellow magistrate Diosdado Peralta made the same remark, along with Samuel Martires. 

“We are respecting the independence of Congress. You have the power to conduct impeachment proceedings which is the reason why we are here upon your invitation. A subpoena on us would result in a clash,” Peralta told the lawmakers.

“I don’t think I have undermined the judiciary; probably the TWG (technical working group) because my decision was against them. I came here because of that invitation and not to undermine the judiciary,” Martires, for his part, maintained.

The House justice committee chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali invited the three magistrates.

The committee was tasked to determine probable cause on the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon against Sereno for culpable violation of the Constitution, among others. 

The appearance of the three justices before the committee had brought to a total of seven – including three incumbent and one retired – SC justices who testified in the impeachment proceeding against Sereno.

Earlier, incumbent SC Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Noel Tijam, Francis Jardeleza and retired justice Arturo Brion broke judicial protocol and tradition by testifying before the Umali committee in December 2017.

Two shrinks

The House committee on justice also subpornaed on Monday two psychiatrists who were reportedly fired by Sereno when they declared that she failed her psychiatric tests. 

Umali granted the motion and virtually amended the request of ABS party-list Rep. Eugene de Vera, who wanted the psychiatric records of Sereno released from the Judicial and Bar Council.

Psychiatrists Dulce Liza Sahagun-Reyes and Genuina Ranoy were hired by the JBC to conduct the test on Sereno, the most junior among her 14 magistrates when she was appointed Chief Justice by former president Benigno Aquino III in 2012. 

De Vera sought the psychiatric records of Sereno during the time when she was applying for the post of Chief Justice in 2012, shortly after the late chief justice Renato Corona was convicted by the Senate impeachment court.

Reports indicated the two psychiatrists hired by the JBC gave Sereno a rating of “4” in a scale of 1 to 5, with “5” being the lowest.

According to the same report, such grade meant that while she projected a “happy mood,” she also exhibited “depressive markers.”

The report added that after the test results were revealed, Sereno, who was chairman of the JBC, refused to renew the contracts of the two psychiatrists and terminated them in 2013.

This matter was raised in support of allegations of betrayal of public trust that Gadon raised in his impeachment complaint against Sereno. 

Apart from the two psychiatrists, Umali said the panel would invite four other justices – SC Justices Mariano del Castillo and Andres Reyes, retired SC justice Adolf Azcuna, Court of Appeals Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando and other court officials.