SC aspirants asked to weigh in on historic quo warranto petition vs Sereno
MANILA, Philippines — Three years since the historic vote of the Supreme Court to oust a sitting chief justice through a quo warranto petition, questions on whether the landmark ruling should be revisited cropped up in screening of applicants for the tribunal Bench.
On Thursday, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Alex Quiroz and Deputy Court Administrator Raul Villanueva faced the Judicial and Bar Council for an interview on their application for the SC associate justice vacancy created upon the appointment of Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.
The panel brought up the April 18 Inquirer column of retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, where he noted that Associate Justice Edgardo Delos Santos “with due respect, allow the Court to rule first on a quo warranto charge against him” before he picks a retirement date.
He said the petition was dismissed due to procedural errors, but has been subjected to a petition for certiorari. No other detail has been made public on the supposed quo warrant against Delos Santos, but Panganiban opined that the SC must protect its freedom.
“The Court has a new composition — seven of the eight who voted for the decision have retired. It is time to restore the shroud granted by the Constitution to the Supreme Court to protect its independence: Justices may be removed only by impeachment, and only for the grounds clearly provided therein,” Panganiban wrote.
Quiroz said would they “read it again” but will not move to revise it. He added that he would retain the procedure of quo warranto as a way to remove a justice of the SC.
Responding to the same question, Villanueva said he does not see any reason why it should be revisited, noting that Republic v. Sereno is a landmark case. “It can only be revisited if a similar siuation will be brought to court, but for now the court has spoken regarding the matter,” he added.
READ: How the quo warranto petition vs Sereno could affect the judiciary
In a vote of 8-6, the SC granted Solicitor General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition against then-Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, for her failure to meet proven integrity to hold the post due to non-filing of wealth declaration documents.
Pangilinan v. Cayetano
Villanueva, who has been serving the Judiciary for years now, was also asked on what recent ruling of the SC which he does not agree with.
He cited Pangilinan v. Cayetano, where lawmakers and the Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court challenged the Philippine government’s withdrawal of its ratification of the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court.
Villanueva noted that the SC junked the decision, saying the issue is now moot—although the court official noted that he has yet to read the full ruling. The SC has yet to make public the decision, more than two months since the voting.
“To my mind, it is something even if it’s moot, they should have come up with guides in so far as future actions of the president regarding withdrawal international organization, which we are party to like the [International Court of Justice], the Rome statute,” he said.
READ: 2 years after Philippines' ICC exit, SC junks pleas vs withdrawal for being moot
Low rating of the court
The JBC panel, on the second day of the interview, also brought up the issue first raised by lawyer Benedicta Du-Baladad when she faced the panel on Wednesday. In the second day of public interviews, they asked Quiroz and Villanueva whether they think the SC should be bothered with the low trust and approval rating for the Judiciary.
Villanueva said the SC should not ignore the low ratings, but it can instead communicate innovations within the Judiciary with the public. “While we are communicating properly the many initiatives, reforms not only for our lower courts, there is a need, to my mind, to communicate some innovation that the SC is doing would want to do,” he told the panel.
He continued that the SC can also possibly look into a proposal to work with three justices per division, which would create five divisions. Villanueva said the image of the SC may improve if they can communicate well that they are working on innovations that can “[improve] the delivery of judicial service.”
Quiroz, responding to the same question, said the Court must respect the public’s perception but he noted that what is important with the Judiciary is that it is “honest… and clean.”
The JBC on Wednesday interviewed for applicants. They are: Du-Baladad, Sandiganbayan Associate Justices Geraldine Econg and Rafael Lagos, and Court of Appeals Associate Justice Ronaldo Roberto Martin.
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