By Ben R. Rosario
Testifying before the House Committee on Justice hearing the impeachment case, three Supreme Court colleagues of the embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno gave testimonies that blamed her, albeit indirectly, for the delay in the release of retirement benefits for surviving spouses of Judiciary officials.
Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, and Samuel Martires admitted that a Technical Working Group created by Sereno was the cause of the snail-paced processing of claims for survivorship benefits.
The three never made any direct accusations against Sereno who allegedly created the TWG on the recommendation of her chief of staff and church mate, lawyer Jocelyn Fabian.
“It was an innovation that was a duplication, it was unnecessary,” said Bersamin.
Bersamin lamented that there was an apparent delay in the processing of the appeal for benefits as his office has many widows and widowers of deceased justices and associate justices inquiring about the status of their appeal for survivorship benefits.
“Maraming nagtatanong na biyudo at mga biyuda kung bakit tumatagal. Nauunawaan naming ang kalagayan nila, kailangan nila ng gamot na bibilhin pero marami silang pagdaranas dahil tumagal ang kanilang mga entitlement,” Bersamin stated.
Peralta also stressed that the TWG was unnecessary as he pointed out that Republic Act 9446 that granted survivorship benefits was clear as to the beneficiaries.
“The law is very clear eh… I do not know why there was even a technical working group!” he said.
Peralta said that before the TWG was created to recommend the SC’s course of action on future claims, the justices only needed a weekend to review applications and recommend their approval during the full court session.
