(Eagle News) – The Office of the Solicitor General “denied for lack of merit” a request of a private citizen that the OSG also file a quo warranto petition against Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro.
Solicitor General Jose Calida said that his office filed the quo warranto petition against Supreme Court Chief Justice on leave Maria Lourdes Sereno based on the evidence discovered during the impeachment hearings against her at the House Justice Committee.
He said that this evidence prompted the OSG to file the quo warranto petition against her before the high court, and that this was not because of any letter from any private citizen.
“This refers to your letter dated 20 April 2018, requesting the undersigned to ‘initiate quo warranto proceedings against Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro for lacking integrity as a member of the Supreme Court,” Calida wrote in a letter to Jocelyn Marie Acosta.
“The rule vests on the Solicitor General the discretion to commence an action for quo warranto if he has good reason to believe that the case can be established by proof,” he said.
Calida pointed out that Acosta’s letter against De Castro “does not advert to any supporting evidence.”
“It is basic that evidence is the means to proof; proof is the result of evidence,” he said.
The government’s chief lawyer said that he filed the quo warranto petition against Sereno based on what was found out during the impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives that the chief justice failed to submit at least 10 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
He said that the letter of a suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari was never the basis of the OSG’s action to file the quo warranto petition against Sereno.
Mallari had earlier written the OSG asking it to file a quo warranto petition against Sereno, calling her a “de facto chief justice.”
“At the onset, let it be clear that the Office of the Solicitor General did not file the Petition for Quo Warranto against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno because of Atty. Mallari’s letter,” Calida explained.
He said that during the impeachment hearings, the OSG learned of Sereno’s alleged ineligibility when it was revealed that she “did not file her SALNs as required by the Judicial and Bar Council for the position of Chief Justice at that time.”
Calida also explained in his letter to Acosta that Associate Justice De Castro, who was the subject of her letter-request, was appointed to the Supreme Court on December 4, 2007.
“The argument which the OSG propounded against Sereno does not apply to Justice De Castro since it was Sereno who was appointed as the Chief Justice without the qualification back in 2012,” he explained.
“In view of the above, your request is denied for lack of merit,” he added.
(with a report from Moira Encina, Eagle News Service)
