Duterte tells Sereno: I am now your enemy
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:42 p.m.) — After repeatedly denying that he had any hand in any effort to unseat Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said that he would request Congress to fast-track the impeachment case against her.
In a press briefing before departing for China to attend the Boao Forum, Duterte declared that Sereno is “bad” for the country.
“I am putting you on notice that I am now your enemy. And you have to be out of the Supreme Court,” the chief executive said.
Duterte said he would ask his ally, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, to expedite the impeachment process.
"I am asking the Congress, what’s taking you too long? Do not create any crisis in this country. I will not hesitate to do what is to the best interest of my country. If it calls for your forced removal, I will do it," he said.
The president also said that he would encourage the government’s chief lawyer, Solicitor General Jose Calida, to do his best on the quo warranto petition he filed against the chief justice.
“I already told you Sereno that I did not meddle. If you are insisting, then count me in. Count me in and I will egg Calida [on] to do his best,” he said.
Duterte did not explain his position but the president was responding to Sereno’s claim that he is behind the moves to oust her from office.
Lawyer Larry Gadon, Sereno's accuser in Congress, and Calida, who initiated the quo warranto petition against her, are both known Duterte supporters although there is no evidence that the president himself gave them orders to remove her from office.
READ: Gadon denies Duterte's hand in Sereno impeachment
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.
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