Edwin Cordevilla, secretary-general of the Filipino League of Advocates For Good Government (FLAGG) filed an impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen before the House of Representatives on Monday.
Lawyer Larry Gadon served as Cordevilla’s legal counsel and was also present in the filing of a complaint before the Office of the House Secretary General.
In his complaint, Cordevilla accused Leonen of committing culpable violation of the Constitution for supposedly failing to dispose of at least 37 cases within 24 months.
Section 16 of Article III of the Constitution mandates the fast disposition of cases, he said.
“Respondent’s track record of gross inefficiency as shown by the snail pace in which he resolves his cases casts doubts on his competency. No other sitting Justice has ever displayed the same inefficiency and incompetence,” the complaint read.
Cordevilla also claimed that Leonen violated the Constitution for “arbitrarily, willfully, intentionally, [and] deliberately” delaying the resolution of cases pending before him as chairperson of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).
Cordival cited a statement from Ako Bicol party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr. that there were still “more than 30 pending electoral protests” unresolved cases pending before HRET since Leonen was appointed in October 2019.
Also read: NTC buys 44 cellphones worth P2.1 million – COA
SC Justice Leonen faces impeachment rap
“Since the resolution of election controversies are a vital factor in our democracy, it is incumbent upon the Chairperson to ensure that pending election cases before the HRET are timely resolved since clearly, these cases are imbued with public interest and are time sensitive,” the complaint read.
“By failing to act on the cases pending before him both in the Supreme Court and the HRET, respondent has clearly betrayed public trust. His incompetence and inefficiency, has caused the erosion of the public’s faith in our judicial system,” it added.
Lastly, Cordevilla accused that Leonen betrayed public trust when he did not file his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) when he was still at the University of the Philippines.
He claimed that Leonen from 1989 to 2003, and 2008 to 2009, or a total of 15 years, “respondent completely ignored the law” on submittig his SALN.