The decision of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to pass to the Office of the Ombudsman the graft complaint filed against Ousted Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was welcomed by Atty. Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon.

“I welcome the action taken by the DOJ Secretary to endorse to the Ombudsman the complaint I filed against Atty. Maria Lourdes Sereno in connection with her failure to obey the law requiring all government employees to file SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) every year,” Gadon said in a statement yesterday.

Gadon said his complaint against Sereno will be given due course and will be resolved on the basis of its merits.

Last January, Gadon before the DoJ filed the graft complaint against Sereno for failing to file her SALN during her 17-year stint as a professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law.

“I filed it at the time when the respondent was still clothed with immunity from suits notwithstanding to avoid prescription of criminal acts as they were committed when Atty. Sereno was still teaching in a state university,” Gadon noted.

The DoJ shelved the preliminary investigation of Gadon’s complaints since, at the time it was filed, Sereno was still Chief Justice and immune from suit.

With the ouster of Sereno through a quo warranto petition, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra disclosed that he had endorsed to the Ombudsman the complaint of Gadon.

Gadon accused Sereno of violating Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) and RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).

Likewise, she was also accused of violating RA 6713 when she submitted only three SALNs during her stint as a law professor at the UP College of Law from 1986 to 2006 prior to her SC appointment in 2012.