SC hears oral arguments on Sereno
THE SUPREME COURT began hearing arguments on Tuesday on a government bid to invalidate the appointment of the court’s top judge, whom President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday called an “enemy” who needs to be removed.
Chief Justice on leave Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno’s fellow high court judges will decide on the merits of arguments for and against a petition, referred to as a “quo warranto,” by the government’s chief lawyer, Jose C. Calida, for alleged violations in the appointment process.
In their respective opening arguments, both Ms. Sereno and the government tackled the timeliness of the quo warranto petition and the validity of this remedy, among other contentions.
“The Solicitor General argues also the Supreme Court can take cognizance of the quo warranto petition against… the ( V) ice-( P) resident. Then it should follow that the Supreme Court should also take cognizance that quo warranto petition against the Chief Justice. But that is a plain non sequitur. The power of the Supreme Court to take cognizance of the quo warranto petition against the President, the Vice- President, rests on express provision under the Constitution, which makes the Supreme Court the sole judge of contest involving the elections qualifications… of the ( P) resident and the ( V) ice-( P) resident. There is no part of that provision in the Constitution that gives the Supreme Court the power to remove a... sitting justice of the Supreme Court,” the opening statement of Alex Poblador, lead counsel of Ms. Sereno, went in part.
“An impeachable officer like the Chief Justice cannot be removed except by impeachment, which means that she cannot be removed by any other method,” the statement also read, adding:
“The less- travelled road that the Solicitor General proposes to take does not exist. What he actually proposes to do is to build a new one, one that lies, however, on a very slippery slope because it will set a very dangerous precedent and destroy the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers.”
Mr. Calida argued in part that Ms. Sereno “was not a person of proven integrity at the time of her appointment” and “committed a misrepresentation in order to be shortlisted by the Judicial and Bar Council” on the matter of her unfiled Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
“Sereno cannot ignore this inflexible requirement and shroud herself with the doctrine of presumption of regularity. The presumption of regularity attaches only to official acts and not to all acts of officials,” Mr. Calida’s opening statement went in part.
Ms. Sereno, the country’s first woman chief justice, is facing challenges on several fronts. She has gone on leave to prepare for possible impeachment proceedings.
Mr. Duterte makes no secret of his dislike of Ms. Sereno, who has voted against several of Mr. Duterte’s controversial proposals, including extending martial law in Mindanao and allowing the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos to be buried in the cemetery for national heroes. But Mr. Duterte has, until Monday, denied instigating attempts to remove her.
Ms. Sereno has until now refrained from blaming Mr. Duterte but directly questioned his intentions in a speech on Monday.
“Mr. President, if you have no hand in this, why did SolicitorGeneral Jose Calida, who reports to you, file the quo warranto?” she asked. “Surely, you must explain this unconstitutional act.”
Within a few hours a furious Mr. Duterte lashed out at Ms. Sereno and indicated he was ready to use his influence over Congress to remove her.
“I’m putting you on notice that I’m your enemy and you have to be out of the Supreme Court,” he told reporters before heading to an Asian leaders’ forum in China.
Congress returns from a recess next month and will convene for a plenary vote on the impeachment complaint accusing Ms. Sereno of failure to fully declare her earnings, among other charges.
If passed, an impeachment trial will be conducted in the Senate, with its 22 members sitting as judges. — main report by Reuters