Puro tsismis! House panel junks impeachment rap vs Leonen

By Billy Begas

The House Committee on Justice on Thursday dismissed the impeachment complaint filed against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.

It took the committee less than two hours to vote to dismiss the complaint filed by Edwin Cordevilla, secretary general of Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government (FLAGG). Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Barba endorsed the complaint.

Thirty-seven members voted to dismiss the complaint. No one voted against the dismissal.

Committee chairperson and Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso III instructed the committee secretariat to submit a report to House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza.

“We have to return the complaint to the secretary general within three session days with our explanation not only on insufficiency but on the fact that we had to dismiss the complaint.…” Veloso said.

Leonen was accused of not filing his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) in all the years while working at the University of the Philippines, failing to issue judgment on the cases in his sala within the allowed 24 months and delaying the resolution of cases pending before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

The impeachment complaint is being linked to the electoral protest filed by former Sen. Bongbong Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo. Marcos is a cousin of Barba.

In a statement, Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco said the committee has spoken and “we must respect its decision.”

“With the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Justice Leonen, Congress can now focus more on the task at hand, which is to produce legislation that would further help our kababayans and the economy recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Velasco said.

Before the voting, Senior Deputy Speaker and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon said the complaint was not based on authentic records as required by the Rules of Impeachment.

“It is very explicit and very categorical… in the Impeachment Rules, it is clearly provided therein that the complainant in filing the impeachment complaint must be based on authentic records or if not it should be out of his own personal knowledge,” Leachon said.

Leachon said the complaint was based on newspaper reports and the allegations are not based on personal knowledge but based on news articles.

“Being the case this impeachment complaint sad to say is a mere scrap of paper,” Leachon added.

Deputy Speaker and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman said the House should focis its attention in helping the people.

“Mas madami pa po tayong dapat pagtuunan ng ating pansin kaysa sa walang basehan na mga paratang na ito, tulad ng tulong sa mga tao at negosyo sa panahon ng pandemya, sa pagpapalakas ng ating healthcare frontliners, at maging ang pagpapasa ng Marawi Compensation Bill,” Hataman said.

In his manifestation, Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez also highlighted the unauthentic documents attached in the complaint.

“All the annexes are all zerox copies and mainly coming from newspaper reports (or online news articles),” said Rodriguez.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the complaint is both insufficient in form and in substance.

Deputy Speaker Bienvenido Abante said Leonen should not be impeached because he was appointed by former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

“The complaint seems to suggest that Justice Leonen is “Anti-Duterte” because he was appointed by former President Aquino. Are we supposed to impeach a Justice of the Supreme Court because of his political beliefs or his affiliations or who appointed him? Is that what the Constitution states?” Abante asked.

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate noted the “legal maneuver” made by the complainant by claiming that the complaint is based on “personal knowledge AND appreciation of the documents and other authentic records pertinent thereto.”

“So, lumalabas po, Mr. Chair, probably to cover up with his actual lack of personal knowledge, he made reference and incorporated his appreciation of the supposed authentic records. However, I submit, that even with that legal maneuver, that legal contortion, the use of language acrobatics, only made the Verification even worse,” Zarate pointed out.

The post Puro tsismis! House panel junks impeachment rap vs Leonen first appeared on .

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)