De Lima, Trillanes want hand in Sereno quo warranto case

OPPOSITION Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to allow them to intervene in the quo warranto case filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Just like the lawmakers at the Makabayan bloc, whose pleading has already been junked by the SC last April 3, De Lima and Trillanes asserted that they have a legal standing to be a party to the case, for as senators, they will be deprived of their constitutional duty to impeach if the SC will act on the quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General

against Sereno.

"The petition for quo warranto filed by the Office of the Solicitor General before the Supreme Court seeks to remove the Chief Justice on the ground that she does not possess the constitutional requirement of 'integrity.' This is a proceeding whose aim is to deprive the Senate of its jurisdiction as the impeachment tribunal," the motion read.

The motion also sought the junking of the quo warranto case against Sereno for lack of jurisdiction.

The SC on April 3 ordered the conduct of an oral argument on the petition aimed at ousting the Chief Justice over her nonsubmission of Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

Sereno vowed to attend the hearing scheduled on April 10 to personally answer the questions of her colleagues.