(Eagle News) –Solicitor General Jose Calida on Tuesday, Sept. 11, lauded the House justice panel’s dismissal of the impeachment complaints filed against the seven Supreme Court justices who voted to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice.
“The (Office of the Solicitor General) and the Filipino people laud the House Committee on Justice for junking these frivolous impeachment cases against the ‘True Magnificent Seven’ who just performed their solemn duty of interpreting the Constitution even in the face of strong political and social currents,” Calida said in a statement, in an apparent jab at the so-called members of the Magnificent 7 who filed the impeachment complaints against now-Chief Justice Teresita de Castro, and Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Andres Reyes, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam and Alexander Gesmundo.
The Magnificent 7 members were Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano and Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat.
“Now, for the alleged “magnificent” representatives who filed these baseless impeachment cases, the House Committee on Justice had just spoken. Will you now turn your ire on the committee members because they did not follow your flawed constitutional interpretation?” Calida asked.
It was Calida who filed the quo warranto petition, which the seven SC justices granted in May, paving the way for Sereno’s ouster.
Calida had said Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice should be nullified as she did not meet the requirements of applicants to the post in the first place.
Calida said Sereno lacked integrity, among others, as she failed to file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth when she was teaching at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
