It is not only through impeachment that Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes P. A. Sereno could lose her position as what her camp claimed because according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, ousting the Chief Justice can also happen by invalidating her appointment in 2012 via a quo warranto case.
A quo warranto is a legal proceeding during which an individual’s right to hold an office or governmental privilege is challenged. This can be carried “against a person who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office.”
“If your appointment is void ab initio or invalid from the beginning, I believe that a petition for quo warranto will suffice to remove you from your position notwithstanding the fact that you are an impeachable official,” Aguirre said.
But Sereno’s camp lambasted the DOJ secretary’s “quo warranto case” suggestion, labeling the move as “patently unconstitutional” and a “mockery of the rule of law.”
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 03/ 05/18)