Sereno asks SC to junk quo warranto plea for lack of merit

MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno asked the Supreme Court to Monday immediately junk Solicitor General Jose Calida's petition seeking the nullification of her appointment.

 

She said the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the plea, which she said lacks merit.

 

The very letter of the Constitution provides that the chief justice can only be removed through impeachment, Sereno said in her comment filed before the SC on Monday.

 

The SC "cannot take cognizance of or give due course to the OSG petition without running afoul of the plain dictates of the fundamental law and established judicial precedents," the chief justice added.

 

READ: Calida questions Sereno's appointment as chief justice before SC

 

She cited Section 2, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, which states: "The President, the Vice President, the Members of the [SC], the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of high crimes."

 

She said "the SC itself has consistently applied this provision as a limitation on its power to remove public officers." 

 

Sereno filed a 77-page comment on the ouster plea filed by Calida in response to a letter request filed by suspended lawyer Elligio Mallari. 

 

The solicitor general, in his petition for quo warranto proceedings, said Sereno "flunked the test of integrity when she failed to file more or less 10 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, (when she applied for chief justice in 2012)."

 

READ: Only impeachment trial can oust Sereno, says IBP

The chief justice also said that the SC should dismiss the petition because she deserves her day in impeachment court, when the raps against her are elevated to the Senate.

 

"To rule otherwise, and to preempt the impeachment process by summarily ousting the chief justice via quo warranto, would be tantamount to overthrowing the Constitution itself."

 

Earlier on Monday, the House of Representatives justice panel approved the draft of the articles of impeachment against Sereno.

 

READ: House panel approves articles of impeachment vs Sereno

 

Sereno is being indicted on six impeachable charges that the committee said fell under the following grounds: Corruption, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of Constitution and other high crimes.

 

Thirty-three House members voted to adopt the draft articles, while Rep. Jose Christopher "Kit" Belmonte (Quezon City) was the lone dissenter in the justice panel.

The chief magistrate also told the SC that it was the Judicial and Bar Council that deemed that she met the requirements for chief justice application.

 

"There is no authority for the judicial review of a purely political question, as the OSG cannot substitute its judgment for the discretion of the JBC to include a name in the shortlist for the position of CJ, and certainly, the OSG cannot overturn the then-president's decision to appoint her to that position," she added.

 

She also stressed that the JBC also waived the SALN requirement for other applicants.

 

The SALN requirement was also waived for the following: Associate Justices Roberto Abad, Arturo Brion, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and law school deans Raul Pangalangan and Amado Valdez.

 

During the House hearing on the determination of probable case in Sereno's case, the JBC said that they deemed that Sereno made "substantial compliance" with the coucil's SALN requirement.

 

Sereno is currently on leave from her office. She said that this is in preparation for her looming impeachment trial at the Senate.