De Castro on impeachment rap: No time to be 'distracted'

MANILA, Philippines — With less than two months left for her in the judiciary, Chief Justice Teresita De Castro said that she does not have any time for the impeachment rap against her.

Speaking to members of the press for the first time as chief justice, De Castro said that she has no time to be “distracted” by the ouster complaint filed by opposition lawmakers against her.

“I have no time to think about it, because...I have very few weeks to work here in the court,” said De Castro, who is due to retire from service early in October.

“I don’t want to be distracted by anything else. My schedule is full. I have so many activities set in the coming weeks, I do not wish to be distracted by that,” she added.

De Castro officially assumed her duties as chief justice on August 28, as she presided over the en banc session early on Tuesday.

According to the Supreme Court Public Information Office, she is due to retire on October 10.

De Castro and six of her colleagues are facing an impeachment rap filed by Reps. Gary Alejano (Magdalo party-list), Edcel Lagman (Albay), Teddy Baguilat Jr. (Ifugao) and Tom Villarin (Akbayan party-list).

The lawmakers cited the justices’ vote on the quo warranto petition that ousted former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Lagman said he and the other opposition solons filed the impeachment complete to hold the SC magistrates accountable for their “unconstitutional” move to oust Sereno.

Rep. Salvador “Doy” Leachon (Oriental Mindoro) said last Sunday that the House Committee on Justice is scheduled to hold a hearing on the complaint on September 4

‘We should all move on’

De Castro also told her critics that it is about time for the people to “move on and work together for the good of our judiciary.”

“Let’s put the past behind us... Of course, we should not forget the lessons that we learned in the history of our judiciary,” she added.

Her appointment as the new top judge of the country was met with strong criticism. They said that her appointment was a reward for her vote on the quo warranto.

The chief justice, however, said that people should look at her track record in the Philippine government, having served for more than 45 years.

She added: “I think people should just think of my track record, my long service at the judiciary. And I don’t think that one incident like you mentioned (quo warranto petition) would have been enough for me to be elevated in this highest position of the judiciary.”