DEMOCRACY-FREEDOM: MANILA, Philippines- House justice panel junks impeachment complaint vs Leonen
Photo shows Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen. / sc.judiciary.gov.ph
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MANILA, Philippines — Voting 37-0, the House justice committee swiftly dismissed Thursday the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
Lawmakers, including several House leaders, pointed out that the complaint largely relied on news reports, did not include original documents, and was not based on the complainant’s personal knowledge.
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“[It’s] a mere scrap of paper,” Senior Deputy Speaker Salvador “Doy” Leachon (Oriental Mindoro) said during the hearing.
Edwin Cordevilla, who identified himself as secretary general of the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government, filed the complaint against Leonen which was endorsed by Rep. Angelo Barba (Ilocos Norte).
Barba is the cousin of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos whose poll protest was unanimously junked by the Supreme Court in a decision penned by Leonen.
Xave Gregorio (Philstar.com) – May 27, 2021 – 11:00am
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[OPINION | Just Saying] Associate Justice Leonen impeachment complaint: A waste of time
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LIVE: House panel meets on Leonen impeachment complaint
MANILA, Philippines — The House Committee on Justice meets on Thursday morning to discuss the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
Under House impeachment rules, the panel will first determine the sufficiency in form and substance of the complaint before deciding whether or not to proceed on the hearing to determine probable cause.
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The complaint, filed by Edwin Cordevilla — secretary general of the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government (FLAGG) — accuses Leonen of failing to file his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth when he was a professor at the UP College of Law.
Leonen in 2020 faced a motion by former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos — Rep. Barba’s cousin — to inhibit from the poll protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.
Marcos — and the Office of the Solicitor General in a separate and unrelated petition — said Leonen had shown bias against the Marcos family in his dissenting opinion on the burial of the remains of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
The Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, has dismissed Marcos’ electoral protest against Robredo. Leonen penned the ruling.
Cordevilla’s complaint also cites Leonen’s supposed failure to dispose 37 cases within two years, which the former said violates the Constitution, which mandates the prompt action and speedy disposition of cases. He added that there are also unresolved cases at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, where Leonen sits as chairperson.
Cordevilla said the justice “failed to consider the implications of these prolonged delays in the lives of the litigants.”
He also accused Leonen of being partial and “almost always [taking] sides against the current administration,” as supposedly shown by the justice’s votes in cases that the SC has resolved.
Watch the hearing of the House Committee on Justice here:
