MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s chief legal adviser maintained the President was not behind the move to oust chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Duterte does not interfere with the activities of other branches of government including the judiciary.
“It is out of character for the President to meddle with those things. He does not even interfere with the activities of his departments, with those of his cabinet members, much less with other branches of government,” Panelo told state-run Radyo Pilipinas on Saturday.
“The President had nothing to do with that,” he added.
Sereno earlier insinuated that the Chief Executive had a hand in the complaint that voided her appointment to the top judicial post.
Last month, Duterte called Sereno his “enemy” and expressed support for her “forced removal” from office after the erstwhile chief justice accused him of seeking her ouster.
The President previously denied involvement in the efforts to unseat Sereno.
The ousted chief justice said last week that the effort to unseat her would have ended if Duterte was against it, noting that the complaint was filed by the solicitor-general.
Panelo stressed that a quo warranto petition is a means to remove an impeachable officer.
“Perhaps the framers of the Constitution did not intend to allow anyone who is illegally occupying an office to remain there for as long as he or she wants... That’s absurd and unfair because their appointment is illegal,” Panelo said.