Sereno warns lawyers vs ‘deadly, malevolent’ quo warranto plea

FILE: After facing her colleagues in Baguio City as a respondent in a quo warranto petition filed against her, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday, April 11, warned lawyers against the dangers this “deadly” and “malevolent” plea may bring in the country. (PNA photo)

After facing her colleagues in Baguio City as a respondent in a quo warranto petition filed against her, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday, April 11, warned lawyers against the dangers this “deadly” and “malevolent” plea may bring in the country.

“When the administration changes, then every sitting justice who lacks a documentary requirement that the JBC (Judicial and Bar Council) has in its discretion waived knowingly can nevertheless be removed if the Supreme Court grants the quo warranto petition against me,” Sereno said at a fellowship meeting of the Philippine Bar Association in Makati City.

“That is how deadly, how malevolent this petition is. It is unparalleled in the evil that it will bring upon the country,” she added.

The quo warranto, a petition filed to challenge a person’s authority over the position he or she holds, was filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida on March 5, 2018.

Calida asked the High Court to nullify the appointment of Sereno over her failure to submit her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) when she applied for the top judiciary post in 2012.

According to the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court (SC) would be committing a “judicial harakiri” or judicial suicide if they approve Calida’s plea.

“I will use directly the words of Chief Justice Hilario Davide that he delivered last week, that it would be judicial harakiri if not a judicial kamikaze, bringing with it the destruction of the entire judiciary as well as the entire legal profession where your fight against one man rule is already lost,” she explained.

“One man rule already is here,” she added.

The top magistrate also quipped that lawyers may perhaps look for a job in the Office of the Solicitor General since they “will no longer be able to fight on a level playing-field” against the government.

“The Solicitor General who will be your adversary as counsel will be able to file at any time a quo warranto petition against a judge at which both of you are appearing,” Sereno stressed.

Betrays the entire story

Meanwhile, Sereno slammed President Rodrigo Duterte over his latest tirade against the Chief Justice.

“You have heard the pronouncement of the President.  I was just asking a question that actually needed to be answered: why the Solicitor General was devoting resources of the government to oust a sitting justice through a quo warranto petition?  You heard his answer. His answer betrays the entire story,” Sereno said.

Duterte on Monday, April 9, ordered the House of Representatives to speed up the Chief Justice’s impeachment proceedings.

Sereno accused the President, who declared the top magistrate an “enemy,” of moving to oust her from her position in the High Court through Calida’s quo warranto plea.

Responding to this, Duterte continued: “Ikaw, Sereno, sinabi ko na sa’yo hindi ako nakialam (You, Sereno, I already told you that I did not have a hand in this). If you are insisting, then count me in. Count me in and I will egg Calida to do his best ako na mismo ang maglakad (I will even process it personally).”