HOUSE Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas debunked the claim of ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno that the House leadership had warned that it will hold hostage the judiciary's budget if the Supreme Court will not cooperate with the impeachment proceedings against her.
In a statement, Fariñas said this accusation is "quadruple hearsay" and "cunningly crazy."
Speaking to reporters at the University of the Philippines on Tuesday, June 19, Sereno said that during the impeachment proceedings against her, SC spokesperson Theodore Te told her that Fariñas told Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez will put on hold the budget deliberations of the judiciary unless all the documents relative to the impeachment complaint requested from the SC are released.
Fariñas disputed this by disclosing the timeline of the impeachment proceedings and the budget deliberations.
"To show her propensity for falsehood, the proposed budget of the Supreme Court was approved instantaneously in the committee on August 7, 2017. It was approved in an hour on Plenary on September 6, 2017," he said.
Fariñas continued: " HB 6215, the proposed General Appropriations Act was approved on 2nd Reading on September 12, 2017, and on 3rd Reading on September 26, 2017."
"The fifteen (15) Impeachment Hearings by the Justice Committee were conducted on November 22, 2017 to February 27, 2018, long after the HOR approved the Budget on 3rd Reading on September 26, 2017," Fariñas further said.
Fariñas also said the House of Representatives could not hostage the judiciary's budget, citing Section 3 Article VIII of the Constitution which provides that the Judiciary "shall enjoy fiscal autonomy. Appropriations for the Judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year and, after approval, shall be automatically and regularly released. "
"Indeed, it is providential that she has been removed. How could she honestly believe that the Budget of the SC could be held hostage by the HOR? Unless, if she does not know the Constitution," ended Fariñas. (SunStar Philippines)