Sereno: Someone is behind bids to oust me

MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Monday said that despite the denials, it is clear that President Rodrigo Duterte has had a hand in the moves to oust her from office.

A day before she appears before her colleagues as a respondent in an ouster petition, Sereno, in one of her fiercest speeches yet, said: “You cannot deny that there is a hand moving behind these.”

“That is why I am asking for an answer: Is that the way it is, President Duterte­—I should be removed either through quo warranto or impeachment?” the chief justice also said.

Sereno was among the honorees of the Movement against Tyranny for her “courage fighting for democracy.”

The president has repeatedly distanced himself from the petitions filed against Sereno, with whom he had been at loggerheads early in his administration.

The chief magistrate is facing two petitions with the same prayer for ouster: An impeachment complaint, pending before the House plenary, and a petition for quo warranto before the Supreme Court.

Petition for quo warranto

 “Mr. President, if you said that you are in no way involved in this, please explain why Solicitor General [Jose] Calida filed this (quo warranto petition), who is reporting to you?” she added in Filipino.

Solicitor General Calida also initiated a Securities and Exchange Commission into allegations of foreign ownership in news site Rappler, which has been releasing reports critical of the Duterte administration. The probe led to a SEC order canceling Rappler's business registration, which the news website has brought to court.

Duterte himself had accused Rappler of being American owned in his State of the Nation Address in 2017.

Sereno did not mince her words in calling Calida’s petition “laughable,” and the “height of hypocrisy.” She added that what is being done to her right now reeks of “evil.”

She added that it is “embarrassing” for the Philippine government’s chief legal counsel to explain an “unconstitutional act.”

Calida and Sereno will both appear on the SC’s oral arguments of the petition seeking the nullification of the chief justice’s appointment on Tuesday, at the session hall in Baguio.

Sereno has argued that an impeachment case is the only legal course to ouster her, while Calida explained that his petition runs on different ground from an impeachment complaint.

Impeachment case

The chief justice is also facing an impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Larry Gadon.

The House, in plenary, is set to vote on the impeachment articles, drafted by its justice panel, upon the resumption of its sessions.

Sereno pointed out that she has never met Gadon, whose complaint cited instances that transpired during en banc sessions, where only justices are allowed to participate.

She added that she learned that Gadon has met with Duterte before.

RELATED: Duterte seen with Sereno impeachment accuser

She said that she keeps wondering why a “very respectful” letter that she sent to Duterte in August 2016 was one of the grounds cited by Gadon in his impeachment complaint. In the said letter, Sereno pointed out that the judiciary should be allowed to investigate its own ranks after Duterte named judges who were allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

“The Filipino people are smart. They understand. You do not have to spell it out for them,” she added in Filipino.

Sereno has denied all allegations against her. She is on indefinite leave from her office.