MANILA – Today, the Supreme Court (SC) magistrates will vote on the quo warranto petition that the Office of Solicitor General (OSG) filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
SC spokesman Theodore Te announced that there will be a special en banc session at 10 a.m., where one of the agenda to be tackled is OSG Jose Calida’s petition.
According to Te, it was Sereno who will preside over the special en banc session but the Chief Magistrate will inhibit herself in the deliberations once the SC justices start to tackle the petition.
“Chief Justice Sereno will be asked to leave the court room when the SC justices discuss the quo warranto petition,” Te said. “She will be the one to preside the en banc session since it is not the only agenda for that day.”
Sereno believes that she will not be ousted from her position despite various reports stating that majority of the magistrates will vote in favor of the quo warranto petition.
“The SC is not a group of friends. We are independent thinking magistrates that even with differing opinions, we can still issue a decision,” Sereno said in a forum at Adamson University.
She added, “If this barkada will ruin the Constitution, violate the rules, circumvent jurisprudence because of one person they do not think is their friend, our judicial independence will be killed.”
Calida’s petition seeks to nullify Sereno’s 2012 appointment for her alleged failure to file her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth covering 10 years prior to her application for the post as required.
Aside from the quo warranto petition, Sereno also has a pending impeachment complaint at the House of Representatives, where six articles of impeachment have been prepared against her.
Among the grounds for the possible impeachment of the Chief Magistrate are culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes./PN
