Another SC justice may face same fate as Corona

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

MANILA -- Another Supreme Court (SC) justice may face the Senate impeachment court after members of the House Committee on Justice voted 27-4-1 finding the complaint against him sufficient in grounds.

For the impeachment complaint against SC Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo to be voted upon in the House plenary, justice committee members would have to determine in its next hearing if there is probable cause to impeach him.

Del Castillo’s fellow justice, Chief Justice Renato Corona, is facing an impeachment trial before the Senate tribunal.

Earlier, Senator Joker Arroyo expressed worry that the impeachment court will be “burdened” with two impeachment trials.

House justice committee chairman Niel Tupas Jr., also the lead prosecutor of the ongoing impeachment trial, said another impeachment case would be manageable for the Senate court since Del Castillo’s case will not likely be tackled during Corona’s trial.

Former House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay abstained in the vote arguing that the impeachment complaint against Del Castillo should be dismissed because 84 session days have already elapsed since the complaint was referred to the House Committee on Justice.

“It is respectfully submitted that the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo be dismissed automatically since the Committee on Justice has ousted itself of jurisdiction for failure to dispose of the complaint within the 60-day reglementary period,” Lagman said in a letter addressed to Tupas citing the House rules on impeachment proceedings.

Deputy Speaker Raul Daza, also a senior lawmaker, insisted that the justice committee is still left with five session days to discuss the impeachment of Del Castillo.

"It is clear that based on a Certification of the Secretariat, we still have five session days left for the justice committee to act on impeachment complaint," Daza said.

A certification issued by the House Secretary General also stated that 55 session days have elapsed.

With a vote of 28-5, Lagman’s motion to dismiss the impeachment complaint was junked.

Last year, at least 11 lawmakers filed an impeachment complaint against Del Castillo for betrayal of public trust after he was found to have plagiarized a ruling on World War II comfort women.

Several paragraphs of the SC justice’s ruling was allegedly borrowed without proper attribution from "A Fiduciary Theory of Jus Cogens" by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Decent, "Breaking the Silence: On Rape as an International Crime" by Mark Ellis, and "Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations in International Law" by Christian Tams.

The High Court’s own ethics committee cleared Del Castillo of any liability on the plagiarism issue, saying that attributions to the sources were just “accidentally deleted”.

But members of the House justice committee argued that the SC has no right to investigate an impeachable officer. In fact, the improper investigation of an alleged erring member of the SC is Article VI of the impeachment complaint filed against Chief Justice Renato Corona.

On December 7 last year, the House justice committee voted 40-7 finding the complaint sufficient in substance. The complaint has previously been found sufficient in form. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)