Sereno camp attributes ratings slump to 'well-orchestrated campaign'

MANILA, Philippines — “What is right is not popular.”

The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno chalked up her personal record-low satisfaction rating to a “well-funded campaign” against the chief magistrate, who has been on indefinite leave to focus on two petitions to oust her from office.

Lawyer Josalee Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, said in a message to reporters: “A dip in ratings is not surprising when there is a well-orchestrated and well funded campaign against Chief Justice Sereno.”

The chief magistrate received her personal record-low rating of -1—a double-digit drop from her rating of +6 in December 2017—for the first three months of 2018 in a poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations.

Officials of the judiciary are appointed, not elected.

Sereno’s 13-point decline in ratings, the SWS said, was due to decreases of 27 points in Mindanao, 13 points in the Visayas, 11 points in Balance Luzon, and 3 points in Metro Manila.

The first quarter of the year saw the House of Representative’s justice panel approving the draft articles of impeachment against Sereno. Voting 33 against one, the committee said that Sereno should be indicted for six impeachable charges.

Also in March, Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a petition challenging the legality of Sereno’s appointment to the position through a quo warranto petition. 

RELATED: Highlights: Oral arguments on Sereno ouster

Sereno also has also been on leave from her office sinceMarch 1. The chief justice’s leave from office was surrounded by controversy, as reports citing unnamed insiders said that a confrontation ensued among high court justices who demanded that Sereno file a leave from office.

The National Union of Peoples' Lawyers earlier noted that if the reported confrontation among justices is true, "the losing party is the residual faith of the people unresponsive institutions whose roles are being wilted away, willingly or unwillingly, to de facto authoritarianism."

'Sereno optimistic she can defend self in impeachment trial'

Deinla stressed that while the latest poll survey posted Sereno’s new record-low of ratings, the chief justice remains “optimistic that if she will be given her day in court—the Senate impeachment tribunal—she can defend herself and prove that all the allegations against her are baseless and wrong.”

“The Filipino people, too, deserve to know the truth,” Deinla added.

President Rodrigo Duterte—with whom Sereno has been at loggerheads since 2016—has openly called on his allies in the administration PDP-Laban party to fast-track the impeachment case against Sereno.

This was after Sereno accused the chief executive of having a hand in the ouster moves against her.

The Congress is currently on a break, and is set to resume its sessions on May 15. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (Davao del Norte, 1st District), PDP-Laban secretary general, has said that his chamber will impeach Sereno within two weeks of the resumption of sessions.