Carpio declines invite to Sereno impeachment hearing

MANILA, Philippines — Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio will not attend the House of Representatives impeachment hearing against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

In a statement sent to reporters on Thursday, Carpio said that he wrote a letter to the House panel to decline the invitation to testify as he has "no personal knowledge of the matters the committee mentioned in its reply to me."

In earlier STAR report, Carpio was said to have been invited to testify on an alleged anomaly in the hiring of IT consultant Helen Perez-Macasaet for the Office of Chief Justice.

It was also earlier reported that a fact-finding report was submitted to the SC recommending the voiding of Macasaet's P10-million contract due to "lapses in the procurement process."

Carpio, who has been on the Supreme Court the longest, ordered the probe into the matter.

Lawyer Larry Gadon has claimed that Sereno committed betrayal of public trust when she hired Macasaet by her "willful failure to procure the services of an ICT consultant in accordance with law and public policy."

Other justices who have appeared before the House panel are Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam, and retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion.

According to the House panel, the following justices have manifested their willingness to appear before the panel: Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Samuel Martires and Andres Reyes Jr.

The House of Representatives Committee on Justice is set to resume its hearing on Monday, January 15.