SC votes to oust Sereno
MANILA, Philippines (Update 3, 12:58 p.m.) — The Supreme Court voted to oust Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno over her supposed failure to meet the "integrity test" of her position despite earlier warnings that such a decision would trigger a constitutional crisis.
Voting 8-6 in a special en banc session on Friday, the SC declared void Sereno's appointment as chief justice.
SC spokesperson Theodore Te, quoting the dispositive of the decision, said: "Wherefore, the Petition for Quo Warranto is granted."
"Respondent [Sereno] is found disqualified from and is hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the Office of the Chief Justice. Accordingly, Sereno is ousted and excluded therefrom," Te added.
The ruling is immediately executory.
Those who voted in favor of the ouster were Associate Justices Noel Tijam, Teresita De Castro, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo.
The dissenting votes were Associate Justices Estela Bernabe, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Presbitero Jose Velasco Jr., Mariano Del Castillo, Marvic Leonen, Antonio Carpio. Bernabe is currently out of the country but left a vote against the quo warranto.
The camp of Sereno already said that they will appeal the ruling, condemned by lawyers in the Free Legal Assistance Group and the chief of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines as unconstitutional. Sereno is given 15 days to file a motion for reconsideration.
Friday's decision paves the way for a constitutional crisis, wherein the high court has assumed a function the fundamental law grants solely to Congress—to oust the top magistrate through an impeachment proceedings. The ongoing proceeding at the lower house that comes before a Senate-led trial is now invalidated.
READ: How the quo warranto petition vs Sereno could affect the judiciary
Majority says voiding her appointment a valid recourse
The justices also ruled on whether the quo warranto is the proper remedy on the case. The justices voted 9-5 on the matter.
It only took two months for the Supreme Court to rule on Solicitor General Jose Calida's plea, filed on March 5, that challenged the legality of Sereno's appointment to the high court.
The 14-member court, led by Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, held the hours-long oral argument on the case last April 10 at the SC Session Hall in Baguio City.
Sereno has earlier asked six of her colleagues—who she claimed has shown bias against her— to inhibit from the case. These were De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Jardeleza, Tijam and Martires.
The decision was penned by Tijam.
Related video:
An insider source of The STAR says the decision on Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's quo warranto was already signed by seven justices ahead of this morning's special en banc session.
Court observers said that based on the April 10 oral arguments on the quo warranto petition against Sereno, it seemed that majority of the justices were inclined to vote for the removal of the head magistrate.
READ: How the quo warranto petition vs Sereno could affect the judiciary
— with Edu Punay
Former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te says there could have been other methods in resolving the matter when asked if the high court made a mistake in removing the chief justice through a quo warranto petition.
"I think most of the matters that went on... there were some personal animus that was going on between them. Where I'm coming from is that perhaps that personal animus could have been resolved, and that doesn't mean only on one side it meant on all sides, because many of these are family matters in a sense. Internal matters that could have been resolved and it was very difficult for me because I could see that," Te says in an interview over ANC's "Early Edition."
"The decisions of the court become the law of the land that's what we always say. That's a judgment that's there. I don't know if I would call it a mistake but I would definitely say that in creating that precedent, that loophole, even though it is a once in a lifetime loophole, I think the court could have restrained itself," he adds.
The Supreme Court directs Solicitor General Jose Calida to comment on the appeal filed by ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on the quo warranto ruling.
The high tribunal gives Calida a non-extendible period of five days to file his comment on Sereno’s motion for reconsideration.
Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno files an appeal on the Supreme Court ruling on May 11 that granted Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition against her.
In a vote of 8-6, her colleagues at the SC voided her appointment as chief justice in 2012.
"Respondent [Sereno] is found disqualified from and is hereby adjudged guilty of unlawfully holding and exercising the Office of the Chief Justice. Accordingly, Sereno is ousted and excluded therefrom," the historic decision reads.
Those who voted in favor of the ouster were Associate Justices Noel Tijam, Teresita De Castro, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo. -
A group of justices and employees of the Supreme Court expresses support for the high court after its decision to oust Sereno as chief justice.
READ: Statement of support from judges, court personnel for Supreme Court after its decision ousting CJ Sereno @PhilippineStar pic.twitter.com/Iqnz4LgtZo
— Edu Punay (@edupunay) May 21, 2018
The Senate will take up today a resolution signed by 14 of its members seeking a review of the high court's decision to remove an impeachable official via a quo warranto.
READ: The cards are stacked against Sereno but she may have an ace up her sleeve
The Coalition for Justice urges the Senate to take a collective stand against the Supreme Court decision ousting Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by asserting its exclusive right to remove impeachable officials.
“We respectfully ask you to remind the Supreme Court that the Senate's sole power over impeachable officers must not be impugned by a co-equal branch of government,” the CFJ says in an open letter to senators.
“If the Decision remains unchallenged and the Senate's duty is unperformed, the dire fallout on our system and people will lie at the Senate's door,” it warns.
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