Duterte appeals to House allies vs Sereno

MANILA, Philippines — Accused of meddling in the affairs of a co-equal branch of government, President Duterte explained yesterday that his call for Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to speed up the filing of the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to the Senate was an appeal to his political party mates.

Duterte backtracked from his statement last Monday calling on Congress to expedite the impeach process.  

After he declared Sereno as his enemy, Duterte said he wanted Sereno out of the Supreme Court either through an impeachment or the quo warranto petition.

But yesterday, he clarified that he was addressing his PDP-Laban party mates at the House of Representatives.

“I am not directing Congress, I am not a member of Congress. I am directing my party-mates,” Duterte said, while acknowledging that the tenure of Sereno – which runs until 2030 – is too long “for an ignorant chief justice.”

He also recognized that Sereno’s fate could be determined by her colleagues at the Supreme Court which, in hearing the quo warranto petition, is looking into the chief justice’s credentials and non-filing of statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

 “But the ball is still in the hands of the Supreme Court. And I don’t know what’s coming her way from you,” Duterte said.

Also yesterday, Solicitor General Jose Calida called Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno a “liar” for claiming she was able to “recover” nine of her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) when it was the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) who provided the court with those.   – With Evelyn Macairan