Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno said yesterday the Judiciary will continue to cleanse its ranks of erring judges, employees, and lawyers.
This was the Chief Justice’s reaction to the criticism of President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte on judges “selling” Temporary Restraining Orders.
She said the Judiciary is doing its job of cleansing its ranks and will continue to do so under the incoming administration.
“Whether there is a TRO or not, corruption is a problem in government…. I can assure the public that we will not stop cleansing our ranks,” Sereno said in an interview during the 115th SC anniversary celebration yesterday.
The Chief Justice emphasized that the SC has been acting immediately on administrative cases against judges, court personnel, and lawyers.
“We’ve been faithful to our mission in that sense, so we welcome that he (Duterte) highlights corruption. But I can also assure the public that even if our President is quiet about corruption, the Judiciary will still do its best to rid its ranks of corruption,” she said.
At the same time, the Chief Justice said her office is open to discussions with Duterte or his team.
“We are ready to give an introduction or briefing of what we are doing. In fact, my office is always open for any of his trusted people to raise concerns with us and we will already tell them what we are doing in the front of corruption and what we are doing with respect to some concerns of judicial processes,” she said. (Rey Panaligan)