Impeachment raps filed vs 7 SC justices De Castro eyed as next CJ?

MANILA, Philippines — Seven of the eight Supreme Court justices who voted to have Maria Lourdes Sereno removed through a mere quo warranto petition are themselves facing ouster through impeachment initiated by four opposition congressmen.

The four lawmakers –  Gary Alejano of party-list Magdalo, Edcel Lagman of Albay, Teddy Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao and Tom Villarin of Akbayan party-list – filed an impeachment complaint yesterday against the seven justices, four of whom are vying for the post left by Sereno. 

The seven magistrates are Teresita de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Andres Reyes, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam and Alexander Gesmundo.

De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin and Reyes are aiming for the post of chief justice. There is a debate on whether the impeachment complaint would bar them from the highest post in the judiciary.

Sources in the administration said De Castro, seen as Sereno’s arch enemy, may be appointed chief justice, giving her a chance to serve even if only for two months until her retirement this October.

Former SC justice Samuel Martires was not included in the complaint despite his role in Sereno’s ouster, having been appointed ombudsman replacing Conchita Carpio-Morales who retired in July.

The ouster of Sereno came after her colleagues in the high tribunal voted to approve the quo warranto petition against her filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida.

Through his quo warranto case, Calida questioned the legitimacy of the Aquino administration’s appointment of Sereno in 2012 and sought to have it immediately nullified, citing her failure to file her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) required of applicants to the top SC post.

“The filing of the impeachment complaint is the proper and legal venue to seek accountability on their actions,” Alejano, a former Marine captain, said.

Liberal Party Reps. Edgar Erice of Caloocan, Raul Daza of northern Samar and Emmanuel Billones of Capiz support the filing of the impeachment complaint but did not sign the document.

With Sereno’s ouster and Martires’ appointment as ombudsman, the high tribunal now has 13 justices.  Antonio Carpio is acting chief justice.

In a press conference, Lagman said they decided to file the impeachment complaint so that the SC magistrates would not get away with their “unconstitutional” move of ousting Sereno. Last May, the justices voted 8-6 to grant Calida’s petition for quo warranto.

Lagman claimed the SC justices’ decision to void Sereno’s appointment “is not only errant, it is also malevolent.” He said the move to remove Sereno was “not only bereft of constitutional anchorage, it is also a blatant subterfuge, an orchestrated charade.”

In their impeachment complaint, the lawmakers accused the justices of “culpable violation of the (1987) Constitution and betrayal of public trust.”

They also said they wanted the seven justices held accountable for “usurping the constitutional power” of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) “to vet the qualifications of applications for positions in the judiciary.”

The magistrates “cannot be allowed to be supreme even in their arbitrariness and malevolence,” Lagman pointed out. “To let them escape scot-free is to condone injustice and oppression.”

The first chief justice in the country’s history to get ousted was the late Renato Corona who was convicted by a Senate impeachment court in 2012 during the previous Aquino administration for mis-declarations in his SALNs.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, ex-officio member of JBC, stressed the impeachment complaint against the four justices will not affect their bid for the chief justice post.

He was reacting to Lagman’s call for the JBC to remove the four from the shortlist of applicants to the top SC post following the filing of an impeachment case against them.

“In my opinion, the mere filing of an impeachment complaint, which is not the same as a criminal or administrative complaint in the ordinary sense, will not have any effect on the nomination of the four SC justices for the CJ position,” he said in a text message.

Under JBC rules, applicants for vacancies in the judiciary with pending administrative or criminal cases are automatically disqualified from the post. Several applicants have suffered from this rule – including former justice secretaries Agnes Devanadera and Leila de Lima.

The high court or any of the four justices has not issued a statement in response to the impeachment complaint.

“None of them has actually read the complaint yet,” SC spokesman Theodore Te said in a text message. – Edu Punay