Sacked Philippine chief justice appeals ousting
The ousted top judge in the Philippines asked the Supreme Court yesterday to restore her to the post, which she lost in a fight with President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly drug war.
Colleagues of Maria Lourdes Sereno voted nearly three weeks ago to remove her as Supreme Court chief justice, shortly after Duterte openly called her his ‘enemy’ and demanded her swift ousting through impeachment.
Sereno was one of the few remaining prominent critics of Duterte’s narcotics crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives and sparked international concern.
“This is essentially a plea to the Honourable Court to do what is right and just,” Sereno, 57, said in a statement after her lawyers filed her appeal.
She argued that the court does not have the power to remove her from office since the constitution states the chief justice may only be removed through impeachment.
She also asked six of the 14 sitting Supreme Court justices to exclude themselves from her appeal. They were among the eight who had voted to expel her.
Sereno argued that they had shown ‘actual bias’ by testifying against her at previous hearings on her impeachment by the House of Representatives.
The House set aside the impeachment complaint after the Supreme Court voted to expel her.
Sereno was sacked after the government’s chief lawyer, who was appointed by Duterte, asked the Supreme Court to dismiss her because she was not qualified for the post and had failed to properly disclose her assets.
Sereno, who denies the charges, was the latest high-profile critic of Dutertetobetargetedafterspeaking out against the president.
She had publicly criticised Duterte in 2016 after he accused some lower court judges of having links to the narcotics trade.
Other Duterte critics have also been ousted, punished or threatened, including Senator Leila de Lima who has been jailed, the Commission on Human Rights and an anti-corruption prosecutor who investigated allegations that Duterte has hidden wealth. — AFP