MANILA, Philippines — The ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was all on her, and not on President Rodrigo Duterte, Malacañang said on Friday.
“She herself violated the Constitution by not filing her SALN, and she herself managed to alienate her own colleagues at the high court,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
The Palace spokesperson was reacting to Sereno’s resignation challenge to the president.
In a fiery speech on Thursday, the ousted chief justice said that it is time for Duterte to resign.
READ: Sereno on Duterte vow to quit if proven he had a hand in ouster: Resign
Roque added: “Ex-Chief Justice Sereno should closely look at the mirror to see who is behind the Supreme Court ruling.”
“The president has not violated the Constitution, and unlike the former chief justice, PRRD enjoys high satisfaction, approval, performance and trust ratings from the Filipino people,” Duterte’s spokesman added.
Sereno received her personal record-low satisfaction rating of -7 in the first quarter of 2018. Her camp attributed the rating slump to a “ well-orchestrated campaign” against her.
Duterte and his administration’s trust and satisfaction ratings suffereda significant drop in the Social Weather Stations’ survey for the first quarter of 2018, from the last quarter of 2017.
Duterte’s trust rating fell to +65 in the first quarter of 2018, a 10-point drop from his December 2017 trust rating, according to SWS.
The recent trust rating survey also saw an overall dip from all geographical regions: 5 points in Mindanao, 6 points in Visayas, 3 points in Balance Luzon and 11 points in Metro Manila.
The satisfaction rating for the administration also dropped to +58, which is a 12-point decline from the last quarter of 2017.
The president has also been accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth, but he has refused to open his bank accounts.
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