Online petition vs quo warranto on Sereno reaches SC

MANILA, Philippines — Signed by thousands, a petition calling for the dismissal of the quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday.

Jack Alvarez leads the 16,500 individuals who affixed their signature to an online petition asking for the junking of Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition against Sereno.

The quo warranto petition is a “brazen violation of the Constitution and the rule of law, and a threat to the credibility of the SC as an institution,” said Alvarez, who submitted an open letter to Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio.

Alvarez implored the SC to “do the right thing,” and “uphold the Constitution and rule of law.”

Calida sought the removal of Sereno as chief magistrate through a quo warranto petition that challenges the legality of her hold over the position. He said that Sereno’s appointment should be nullified since she allegedly failed to meet the “integrity test.”

News reports quoting SC insiders said that the high tribunal may likely rule on the quo warranto petition next week, May 11.

READ: How the quo warranto petition vs Sereno could affect the judiciary

Impeachment already ongoing

The petitioners also noted that Calida’s petition is an indicator that the pending impeachment case before the Congress is “weak and will wither under the scrutiny of the Senate.”

The impeachment complaint was filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, who has ties with supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The petitioners said that the SC should throw out the petion as it “trivializes the power of the Senate and squanders taxpayers’ money.”

Sereno has repeatedly argued that as chief justice, she can only be ousted through impeachment. This claim was also echoed by the 40,000-strong Integrated Bar of the Philippines, which filed a petition-for-intervention on the case before the SC.

Calida, however, asserted that the quo warranto petition runs on a “different track” from an impeachment complaint.

Alvarez stressed: “Assuming jurisdiction over this case would erode the credibility of the SC and threaten its very foundations as an institution.”

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