President Duterte’s top legal counsel has said that the Chief Executive had no hand in the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
“Out of character sa Presidente ang nakikialam diyan sa ganiyang bagay. Unang-una, ni hindi nga siya nakikialam sa kaniyang mga departamento, sa kaniyang mga Cabinet members; eh lalo na sa ibang sangay ng gobyerno. Walang kinalaman si Presidente diyan,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said over Radyo Pilipinas.
“The Supreme Court has spoken. We all must bow to the majesty of the law. The Constitution has given the duty of interpreting the law to the highest court of the land and we must abide by it regardless of our disagreement with its ruling. That is how democracy works,” Panelo had said.
“Each branch of the government performs its duty as defined by the Constitution. And the judicial branch has performed its task as directed by the Constitution,” he added. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)
