The House of Representatives justice committee must be impartial in determining whether or not probable cause exists to warrant the filing and prosecution of impeachment charges against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to the Senate Tribunal sitting as an impeachment court.
The committee is under no compulsion to file the impeachment information where the members sitting as a whole are not convinced that the evidence of lawyer Lorenzo Gadon prop up the averment under his complaint.
As we have heard and witnessed, clear and convincing pieces of evidence—inclusive of the testimony of the complainant— are patently hearsay and led the viewing public to the conclusion that there is no probable cause against the Chief Justice.
Accordingly, members of the justice committee took an oath to administer justice and spare the Chief Justice from a hasty, malicious and oppressive prosecution and to protect her from the trouble, expense and anxiety of a public trial based on unfounded charges.
Ultimately, their task is to protect our beloved Republic from a useless and expensive trial.
NORMAN M. VERZOSA,
past president, IBP Manila III