MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday has joined the growing voices slamming the quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
“I am your duly elected vice president and I took an oath to defend our Constitution. You can count on me to do everything in my power to right this wrong, should it ever come to pass,” Robredo, in a rousing speech, said at a forum on the Philippine justice system at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
“The quo warranto case against the chief justice is not just her fight, it is our fight,” the vice president added.
READ: How the quo warranto petition vs Sereno could affect the judiciary
Robredo said that the Philippine courts have been beset with “threats to its independence.”
She stressed that the quo warranto petition against Sereno “can be the final blow to the ideal of justice we all depend on.”
“It weaponizes the courts and if we allow it, a quo warranto can be used as a weapon to intimidation, to kill dissent,” the vice president added.
Calida wants Sereno out of the court as he said that the chief justice failed to meet the “integrity test” when she only submitted three of her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth in 2012.
Sereno, for her part, argued that she could only be ousted from the position through an impeachment case, a mandate that is given to the Congress.
Calida’s petition is met with at least four petitions for interventions seeking its dismissal. The petitioners echoed Sereno’s argument that impeachment is the only legal recourse for her ouster.
Robredo also reiterated the stand: “That the Constitution itself mandates that they can only be removed through impeachment, and solely by the Senate acting as an impeachment court, is primarily for the protection of the people,” she said.
“Our Constitution ensures that they cannot be strong-armed by those who are in power. And our obligation as citizens enjoins us to stand up against those who would co-opt the very institutions that are supposed to be our last shield that will protect us against abuse.”
Reports citing unverified insiders said that the SC might rule on the quo warranto on Friday, May 11.
Sereno has been on an indefinite leave from her office since March 1.
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