IF the Supreme Court, which meets today as a full court, decides to tackle and possibly decide the “quo warranto” case filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, that might effectively end her long fight for vindication.
According to reports, a majority of the justices of the High Court – eight out of 14 – agree with the “quo warranto” case filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida that her appointment was void from the start because of her failure to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Networth.
If, on the other hand, the impeachment case filed with the House of Representatives goes to the Senate for trial and the Senate finds her guilty, that would be still another way she would end her career in the government service. She has, however, declared she is ready to face trial in the Senate.
Despite these two dire possibilities, certain groups continue to call on her to resign. Members of the SC Employees Association and the Philippine Judges Association once again joined in a protest demonstration last Monday. Another group, the Citizens Crime Watch, asked Sereno to resign before the SC decides the quo warranto case, so she will keep her title as a retired chief justice, they said.
Chief Justice Sereno answered them in a forum “Women on Fire” the next day. “There is no sense in resigning; that’s for cowards,” she said. This has been her position from the very beginning. She hopes to face her accusers in a trial in the Senate on six articles of impeachment the House of Representatives should be approving anytime now.
A Supreme Court decision on the “quo warranto” case would effectively oust her from her position as chief justice, but some lawyers, including officials of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, fear a crisis should the Senate question a Supreme Court ruling ousting the chief justice, in the face of the Constitutional provision listing national officials who may be removed via impeachment.
With all these developments and Chief Justice Sereno’s determination to fight for her cause to the end, resignation is out of the question. All those quarters persisting in pushing for this position better leave it to the legal procedures provided by law and the Constitution.
