The Manila Times

Lawmakers pressuring Sereno to quit – analyst

- JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA WITH BERNADETTE S. TAMAYO

Casiple said he believed there was no strong basis to impeach the chief justice.

The political analyst also noted that apart from impeachmen­t, the petition for quowarrant­o question General before the Supreme Court, was also part of efforts to pressure the chief justice to resign.

“In my view they are not preparing for an impeachmen­t. They are trying to bring the situation to a force resignatio­n, even the quo warranto is being used to pressure the chief justice,” he said.

Casiple said he did not see President Rodrigo Duterte’s hand in the impeachmen­t process, noting that the Chief Executive had said he was not interested in kicking out Sereno, the youngest to be

Asked why lawmakers and other allies of the President wanted to remove Sereno, Casiple said one of the reasons was to cut short her term, which would last until 2030 or when she reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Those who want Sereno out also think she was appointed to the high court to be a “stay behind force” of former president Benigno Aquino 3rd, Casiple said.

‘Trial will be fair and non-partisan’

Reacting to the House justice panel vote, Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan said the public must assume that the impeachmen­t process “would be fair and non partisan to regain the strength of damaged our institutio­ns.”

“We should trust the system and process until proven otherwise,” Honasan said in a text message.

Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” “ready to serve as an honest and impartial judge.”

“It is clear in the Constitu- tion and it is clear to us that the Chief Justice can only be removed through an impeachmen­t,” he said.

lipped. “Since it is almost inevitable that I will sit as an impeachmen­t court judge, I would rather not comment on any matter pertaining to the chief justice’s impeachmen­t,” he said.

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