CHR hits SC ruling vs Sereno

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights on Saturday said it was “saddened” by the Supreme Court’s decision to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, which some political observers say may have constitutional consequences.

“I am equally surprised that the majority of the justices would arrive at a ruling that many former SC justices, law experts, and learned law faculties have said would raise serious Constitutional questions that may lead to political and legal uncertainties in the future,” CHR Chairperson Jose Luis Martin Gascon said in a statement.

Voting 8-6 in a special en banc session, the high tribunal on Friday only took two months to decide on Solicitor General Jose Calida's “quo warranto” petition, which challenged the legality of Sereno's appointment mainly on the grounds of missing wealth declarations.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who has made no secret of his dislike for Sereno, earlier called the country’s first female chief justice his “enemy” who must be removed from the high tribunal.

Like Sereno and other presidential critics, the CHR likewise landed in Duterte’s crosshairs for criticizing his deadly drug war that has left scores dead.

New York-based Human Rights Watch also condemned the “unprecedented and nefarious” SC ruling, which the group said “constitutes a frontal assault on human rights protections and democratic rule.”

Meanwhile, some have expressed concern that the landmark ruling paves the way for a constitutional crisis, wherein the high court has assumed a function the fundamental law grants solely to Congress—to oust the chief justice through impeachment proceedings.

Sereno is the first top magistrate to be ousted by her peers and the second chief justice to lose the seat in the high court after her predecessor, the late Renato Corona, was impeached for not disclosing to the public his wealth.

The camp of Sereno already said that they would appeal the ruling.

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