Robredo supports Sereno: Quo warranto vs top magistrate also our fight

Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, May 7, came to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s defense, saying that the quo warranto petition filed against the latter, if it succeeds, can be the “final blow to the ideal of justice we all depend on.” (Photo: VP Leni Robredo/Facebook)

Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, May 7, came to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s defense, saying that the quo warranto petition filed against the latter, if it succeeds, can be the “final blow to the ideal of justice we all depend on.”

“As your duly-elected Vice President, I took an oath to defend the Constitution. You can count on me to do everything in my power to right this wrong,” Robredo said in a forum called “Free the Courts! A Forum on the Philippine Justice System” at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman.

“The quo warranto case against the Chief Justice is not just her fight, it is our fight,” she added.

Robredo said the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida “tramples our Constitution” and “coopts one of its foundations.”

“It weaponizes the courts and if we allow it, quo warranto can be used as a weapon of intimidation, to kill dissent,” she stressed.

Calida wants Sereno out from her office as he claimed that the Chief Justice failed to meet the integrity test for not complying with all the requirements of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) when she applied for the top judicial post.

Sereno, for her part, argued that impeachment is the only legal recourse for her ouster.

Robredo, a critic of the petition, reiterated this stand, stressing that the Constitution itself mandates that impeachable officials can only be removed through impeachment, and solely by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

“Our Constitution ensures that they cannot be strong-armed by those who are in power. And our obligation as citizens enjoins us to stand up against those who would co-opt the very institutions that are supposed to be our last shield that will protect us against abuse,” she noted.

The Vice President then urged the public to also support Sereno, and fight for the judiciary, whose independence, she said, had been threatened.

“We must not give up on our institutions, no matter how hard and how long the fight. They need to be strengthened, not decimated. Because if our justice system defies the Constitution which is the sacred cornerstone of all our laws, wouldn’t that be the end of our nation as we know it?” Robredo said.

“Hindi maaaring mananahimik na lamang tayo sa dilim na dulot ng mga pangyayari nitong mga nakaraang buwan. Kailangan nating isantabi ang ating takot at ipaglaban ang ating hudikatura (We cannot just keep quiet in the dark brought about by events the last few months. We need to set aside our fear and fight for our judiciary),” she added.

The quo warranto petition is expected to be ruled this month.