SC ousts Sereno
MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) voted 8-6 Friday, May 11, to oust Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
In a landmark decision, the country’s highest court granted the quo warranto petition of Solicitor General Jose Calida to invalidate the appointment of Sereno as chief justice. The decision is immediately executory, said SC spokesperson Theodore Te.
“Maria Lourdes Sereno is found disqualified from and is hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the office of the Chief Justice,” the decision read.
The justices who voted in favor of the petition were Diosdado Peralta,
(This is not the end, but just the beginning. Let us join forces and let our unified voices be heard. We can no longer afford to stay silent because staying silent means you support the abuses),” she said as she read a prepared speech shortly after the country’s highest court voted 8-6 to grant the quo warranto petition that sought to invalidate her appointment in 2012 as chief magistrate.
“Isantabi muna natin ang ating mga pagkakaiba dahil may mas malaki at mas malakas na kalabang kailangan nating lahat na harapin (Let us put aside our differences because we all have to face a bigger and stronger enemy),” she added.
Her speech was met with outrage and cheers by her supporters, who kept screaming “Laban” (fight) and “Galit kami” (we are angry) throughout her speech.
Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo, for her part, also called for unity in defense of the Constitution and democracy.
“Ang ating huling pag-asa ay ang bawat isa. ang tunay na kapangyarihan ay nasa taong bayan. Hinihikayat natin ang sambayanang Pilipino na patuloy na bantayan ang mga susunod na pangyayari at pag-isahin natin ang ating boses para ipagtanggol ang institusyon ng ating hudikatura, ang Saligang Batas at, higit sa lahat, ang ating demokrasya (Our last hope lies with each other. Real power lies with the people. We are urging the Filipino nation to remain vigilant and to unite our voices to defend the judiciary, the Constitution and, most of all, our democracy),” she said.
SC spokesperson Theodore Te, who announced the en banc decision, later tweeted: “I dissent.”
Lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, Sereno’s chief defense counsel, said in a television interview that they will file a motion for reconsideration.
Te, however, said earlier that the dispositive portion of the SC decision states that “it is immediately executory.”
Malacañang welcomed the landmark SC ruling. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said the decision of the Supreme Court, as the “final arbiter of the law,” to oust Sereno was “an assertion of the supremacy of the fundamental law of the land.”
“The High Court has spoken. Let us respect its decision granting the quo warranto petition as the proper remedy and the quo warranto petition ruling against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno,” Roque said in a statement.
“The Supreme Court, a co-equal branch of government, is duty-bound to uphold the Constitution. The court ruling is likewise an assertion of the supremacy of the fundamental law of the land,” he added.
The high tribunal’s ruling would moot the impeachment case filed in Congress against Sereno, an appointee of former President Benigno Aquino III.
Sereno was appointed by Aquino, predecessor of incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, as the 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on August 24, 2012. She was the first female to hold the highest post in the judiciary and the second youngest, at 52, to be appointed.
Sereno is the second chief justice to be removed from office, but she is the first to be stripped of her role through a quo warranto petition instead of an impeachment trial.
Former Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached in 2012 after the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, convicted him of misdeclaration of wealth.
In April, Duterte declared Sereno as his “enemy” who deserved to be unseated, after she alluded that Duterte might be behind the filing of quo warranto plea against her.
Duterte also directed his allies at the House of Representatives to expedite Sereno’s impeachment, as she is “bad for the Philippines.”
Sereno could have been one of the longest-serving top magistrates in the country. She was due to mandatorily retire in 2030 had she not been ousted.She, however, could still file a motion for reconsideration as her last recourse to reverse the decision to impeach her.
(Ruth Abbey Gita and Marites Villamor-Ilano/
SunStar Philippines)