As expected, Duterte’s men in the House of Representatives who live to serve their king, today delivered the Chief Justice’s head on a silver platter, deciding that there is probable cause to impeach Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Now that it is going to happen, it seems important to start looking at what exactly they’ve been wasting public funds on since July of last year, starting with of course the fact of Larry Gadon’s 60+ pages of an impeachment complaint, probably one of the most terribly written, hilarious documents you will find. See, this won’t even pass as a college argumentative research paper, as all its sources are ahem … newspaper clippings.

And then there is its premise: that Sereno is mentally ill, which is why she has committed all the crimes detailed by Gadon. But in the Committee on Justice hearings, that part about mental illness is only “discussed” at the tail-end of the proceedings, excluding of course SoH Alvarez already calling Sereno “baliw” as early as Nov 2017 for refusing to appear in the House to cross-examine the witnesses herself. Never mind that Sereno has a right to have counsel question those witnesses — a right denied her by Alvarez’s Congress.

And really, if anything, Sereno’s refusal to appear in the House, to defend herself in front of Congress Reps who have pre-judged her and are out to get her — that’s proof that she got her head screwed on straight. Only the delusional would think any Duterte critic will get justice and fairness at the HoR.

(An aside: only idiots will believe this HoR — they’d unseat Duterte if they think they can get away with it. Which brings me to another aside: who in their right minds would trust federalism to Duterte’s men in Congress?)

I digress. What will most probably be used — because Corona precedent — against CJ Sereno is the fact of her SALNs. It is the basis of Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition with the Supreme Court, asking that Sereno be unseated. Gadon has since filed a case with the Department of Justice based on what he alleges is Sereno’s failure to submit 17 years worth of SALNs. Both this petition and case are strange considering that the House Committee on Justice was actually moving on the impeachment hearings — unless of course they thought Sereno would crumble and just decide to resign? And in which case they weren’t quite prepared for impeachment to proceed? Because really: among the House hearings, the quo warranto petition, and the DOJ case, what else can this be but multiple attacks on Sereno?

Anyway, certainly Sereno needs to answer those allegations of having submitted only her 2009, 2010, and 2011 SALNs according to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), and sure, let’s look at those rules for becoming Chief Justice, which apparently state that applicants to the post must have submitted SALNs the previous decade (in Sereno’s case 2002 to 2011). The latter of course highlights not that Sereno had violated the rules, but that she was allowed to violate the rules. It’s not so much that she did not submit (her fault) but that she was still considered for the post despite the lack of SALNs (not her fault).

This discussion is more complex than what the nincompoops in the HoR can handle — especially since they’re just ready to do Sereno in.

But it’s not just more complex; it’s also a fantastic precedent that can do all of them in — Congress Reps, Duterte’s Cabinet, Duterte’s men all.

It’s worth remembering that not long ago, PCIJ came out with a report on the redacted SALNs of the members of Duterte’s cabinet. And while Malacañang tried to spin it by saying that they only redacted names of unmarried children and addresses — which is a right under the data privacy act — in truth, they redacted more than just that.

Among the SALNs acquired by the PCIJ, the following information was redacted:

Description of Real Properties
Exact Location of Real Properties
Acquisition Costs of Real Properties
Exact Location of Real Properties
Acquisition Costs / Amounts of Personal Properties
Outstanding Balance of Liabilities
Business Address of Business Interests and Financial Connections
Name of Creditors
Amounts of Personal and Family Expenses
Amounts and Sources of Gross Income

These redactions go against the very idea of Freedom of Information and transparency — a Duterte promise. It is also telling that despite these redactions, it is clear that Duterte’s men earned millions in six months: June to Dec 2016.

Pray tell why was there no hearing in the House of Representatives for that? While we’re at it, where are these Congress Reps’ SALNs? Because you know how Alvarez had that lavish birthday party, and how Rodolfo Fariñas is one of the richest in Congress? Let’s look at their SALNs and compare it to their lavish lifestyles, their family’s wealth, their decisions in Congress. I am certain that whatever “luxurious” life they are blaming on Sereno, members of Congress and Duterte’s Cabinet are doing it it two-, three-, four-fold.

Sure none of them are Chief Justice. But this is the legislature — and arguably the executive, given Duterte’s own articulations against CJ Sereno since 2016 — seeking to impeach the leader of the judiciary. Certainly that demands of all of us to be more critical about who these members of the legislature and executive are, and whether or not they are not guilty of the same charges they are throwing Sereno’s way.

So yes, let’s talk SALNs. Not just CJ Sereno’s, but EVERYONE’S.

Let’s start with Duterte’s men. Because what did he say again? Just a whiff of corruption …