On Thursday, January 27, in an interview with Sandra Aguinaldo aired in GMA 7, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) sought the disbarment of Commissioner Rowena Guanzon from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) regarding the forfeiture of her retirement benefits and lifetime pension for disclosing her rule on the high-profile Marcos case.
Atty. George Briones, General Counsel of the PFP, stated that Guanzon revealing her vote on national television is illegal. Briones reiterated the Code of Judicial Conduct, Rule 2.01 that states: “A judge should behave at all times as to promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
Moreover, Briones believed Guanzon should be condemned by the Supreme Court for publicly disclosing her opinion with undue haste before the promulgation of the complete decision.
The attorney also addressed that the Commissioner made malice over her fellow commissioners, and stated that the unnamed politician is interfering in the case. Subsequently, Atty. Briones cited Rule 3.07 of Judicial Conduct as the violation that states: ‘‘Judge should abstain from making public comments on any pending or impending case and should require similar restraint on the part of court personnel.”
Atty. Briones openly stated that Guanzon acted as an undue interest in this case. “To the extent that she will forfeit her retirement benefits and lifetime pension to support the candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo, who the petitioners in this case openly supports, speaks of how deep she [Guanzon] is interested in this case,” Briones added.
General Counsel of PFP tagged Commissioner Guanzon as an ‘incorrigible narcissist’ for posting about the disqualification case of Marcos via her Twitter account, which was seen to be improper for a judge. PFP urged COMELEC to conduct an investigation for the violation of Judicial Ethics and Code of Judicial Conduct prior to the release of her retirement benefits.
On January 28, Commissioner Guanzon posted via her Twitter account that COMELEC has no power to indulge in the administrative complaints against the Commissioner and revealed that PFP is threatening her while the case is still pending.