A vindication for Corona – Gadon
The Supreme Court has spoken and lawyer Larry Gadon who initiated the impeachment complaint against ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno described the decision as a “vindication of Chief Justice Renato Corona” whom Sereno replaced as head of the High Court.
Gadon, however, lamented that Corona is no longer around to savor the “feeling of being vindicated” after suffering undeserved humiliation resulting from his ouster as Chief Justice following a highly partisan impeachment proceeding
in the Senate.
“The late CJ can truly rest in peace. I dedicate this win to the legacy of Chief Justice Renato Corona. A legacy cut short by the mostpolitically vicious and self-aggrandizing political persecution perpetrated by Noynoy and his ilk,” Gadonsaid.
Corona’s impeachment in 2011 was marred with accusations of bribery against congressmen and senators who supported the previous administration’s move to unseat him.
Death, however stopped Corona from reclaiming his seat.He had aired plans to question Sereno’s appointment as soon as Aquino stepped down as president.
“Today we have liberated the Supreme Court and the entire Judiciary from the vestiges of the yellow cult which for many years have enslaved the people through machinations of deceit, fraud, indoctrination and brainwashing for the advancement and protection of the yellow interest,” Gadon stated.
“Today we bring back the prestige of the Supreme Court as it will move on without the baggage of a shameful head whose credentials and experience do not come up to the highest standards of the legal profession qualities that would deserve to be placed on the pedestal of being the top among the rest,” he added.
“Since the SC has already spoken that Sereno should be unseated, there is no need anymore for the House to vote on my complaint,” said Gadon.
Lawyer Emmanuel Luna, counsel for the quo warranto petitioners, in a press statement said: “There is nothing else she (Sereno) could do about it but to accept her fate and move on. I admire her courage though, albeit misplaced. Surely, the High Court will come out stronger and immaculate in this,” Luna said.
Disagree Senators weighed in on the High Court’s ruling that a quo warranto petition was the way to oust Sereno.
“I do not agree with the decision because impeachment is the only constitutional route for removal of a Chief Justice, but we acknowledge that the Court has spoken,” Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said.
“The ripple effect of the decision may be felt in the coming months and years. I pray that wisdom and sobriety prevail in the future for the good of the country and our people,” the senator further said.
“If the decision is indeed 8-6 as reported, it shows a divided Court on a very important constitutional issue. This means the ruling may not be a stable one and may be subject to revision going forward,” Angara said in a text message.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, likewise disagreed with the decision.
“A quo warranto proceeding is not the proper, legal, and constitutional way to remove an erring impeachable officer. The Constitution is clear that the only remedy on erring constitutional officers like the Chief Justice is a conviction in an impeachment proceeding,” Drilon said.
“The Constitution has vested such power only in the hands of Congress. With this decision however, the power to remove an impeachable officer including Supreme Court justices, heads of constitutional offices and even the President is, by implication and in effect, made available to the Solicitor General by way of a quo warranto petition,” Drilonadded.
The SC decision has made the Solicitor General the most powerful official in the bureaucracy—even more powerful than both the House of Representatives and the Senate, insofar, as the removal of impeachable officers is concerned, Drilon noted.
“From the very start, we have warned that the granting of this quo warranto petition against the Chief Justice is a very slippery slope. Now we have entered into a very dangerous situation because all officers who are removable only by impeachment can now be removed through a quo warranto proceeding,” the lawmaker, a Liberal Party stalwart lamented.
“It is a very sad episode in our political life. As an officer of the court however, I respect the decision of the Supreme Court but I register my objection,” said Drilon, a former justice secretary.
Bad precedent
Sen. Paolo Aquino IV, for his part said, “The people has lost again. How can ordinary Filipinos fight if even the Chief Justice can easily be removed from position without even undergoing due process?,” Aquino pointed out.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the decision sets a "bad precedent."
Sen. Joel Villanueva noted his dissent on Twitter saying “the only means to remove the CJ is thru impeachment."
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the SC violated the Constitution for choosing to remove Sereno through a quo warranto petition” and described the ruling “the darkest hour in our democracy.”
Of the senators, only Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III agreed with the SC.
"The Supreme Court is the highest interpeter of the Constitution and the laws. We respect its decision. To do otherwise is to make our personal opinion higher than what we regard as supreme," Sotto said in a text message.
Sen. PanfiloLacson,in a tweet said, “The biggest winners on the SC decision are imbecile lawyers who are ready to scatter stupidity in the impeachment trial which will not happen anymore.”
Senator Risa Hontiveros, for her part said, “By giving its nod to an obviously unconstitutional petition, the High tribunal has surrendered its judicial independence and integrity to the whims of President Duterte, and subverted altogether our constitutional process of impeachment.”
Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian said the High Tribunal “subverted the process the paramount tradition of separation of powers that lies at the very heart of our republican system of government.”
“The road to unseating any impeachable officer, including the Chief Justice, must start at the House of Representatives and end at the Senate. No detours are allowed,” he stressed.
The Makabayan bloc congressmen condemned the ouster of Sereno. ACTTeachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio said, “The justices of the Supreme Court have conspired with Pres. Duterte in subverting the Constitution, undermining judicial independence, and further consolidating his tyrannical rule."
"From the executive, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court--all have conspired to abandon the pursuit of the rule of justice. What is happening now is a glaring example of the faults, disadvantages and fallacies of a government run by the elite," Bayan Muna Party-List Rep. Carlos Zaratesaid.
Even the Church weighed on the Sereno case.
"This is a mockery of our democratic process. Duterte has succeeded in controling the judiciary,"Father EduGariguez, executive secretary of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peace said in an interview. (With reports from VanneP. Terrazola,Mario B.Casayuran, Ellson A. Quismorio, and Leslie G. Aquino)