The House Committee on Justice put the cart before the horse when it precipitately and prematurely voted that there are sufficient grounds for the impeachment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno based on the pleadings even before any discussion was conducted on the alleged grounds.

The October 5, 2017 agenda of the Committee on Justice specifically included the “determination of the sufficiency of the grounds in the verified complaint for impeachment against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno”.

Determination involves discussion and deliberation which were not held prior to the voting.

My suggestion that the 27 grounds alleged for impeachment must be discussed and voted upon separately was ignored by the Committee.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN