Plano pagsipa ng SC kay Sereno, ilegal

Naniniwala si Senador Antonio Trillanes IV na sa pamamagitan lamang ng impeachment process maaalis sa puwesto si Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

“Any attempt to remove the Chief Justice through a process other than impeachment is unconstitutional. It will be a brazen usurpation of the exclusive power of Congress under the Constitution,” ani Trillanes.

Ipinahayag ito ni Trillanes matapos mabatid na minamaniobra umano ng ilang mahistrado ng SC, sa pangunguna ni Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, na patalsikin sa puwesto ang Punong Mahistrado.

“May I remind these justices that any unconstitutional act they commit now, can be used as a ground for impeachment against them later on under a different administration. For those who are retired by then, these acts can and will be used as basis for graft cases,” ani Trillanes.

Nitong nakaraang linggo, napaulat na pinuwersa ng mga SC justice na maghain ng “indefinite leave” si Sereno.

Nahaharap si Sereno sa impeachment process dahil umano sa maling deklarasyon ng kanyang statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Kasabay nito, sinabi kahapon ni Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II na maaaring patalsikin ng SC sa puwesto si Sereno kung pawawalang-bisa ang appointment nito noong 2012 sa isang quo warranto case.

“If your appointment is void ab initio (from the beginning), I believe that a petition for quo warranto will suffice to remove you from your position notwithstanding the fact that you are an impeachable official,” ani Aguirre.