Palace on Sereno impeach: 'Let the process continue'

MANILA— After an impassioned call for Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to resign on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque yesterday said the impeachment case against her should be allowed to run its course.

"We let it be from now on," Roque said in a press briefing. He added: "The suggestion was made to resign so that the constitutional process will continue."

Roque, facing reporters on Monday, said that he believes that Sereno should resign to spare the judiciary from "further damages."

He added that his principal, President Rodrigo Duterte, shares his belief.

Sereno's team, meanwhile, was quick to reply that "resignation has never been an option" for the chief justice.

The newly appointed spokesperson also said that Duterte will no longer have to file impeachment raps against Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales-two officials with whom the president has had heated exchanges since the last year.

"He doesn't really have to file an impeachment complaint against either because I think other individuals have done it for him, 'no." Roque quipped.

Duterte supporter Larry Gadon, also a failed senatorial candidate for Marcos-era Kilusang Bagong Lipunan in 2016, filed an impeachment complaint against the chief magistrate.

The House of Representatives Committee on Justice voted to find sufficient ground for the complaint but it has yet to determine if there is probable cause to impeach Sereno.

Members of the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption and Vanguards of the Philippine Constitution Inc., meanwhile, said that they are readying their impeachment rap against Morales.