(Eagle News) — Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima reiterated on Thursday, April 18, that the quo warranto petition filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno should be quashed for lack of jurisdiction.
In their four-page manifestation filed before the Supreme Court, Trillanes and De Lima, through their lawyers, said the “hostile environment for adjudicating the present case has clouded the jurisdictional issue they raised in their opposition-in-intervention.”
On April 4, Trillanes and De Lima filed the opposition-in-intervention seeking the SC’s approval for them to intervene and seek the dismissal of the petition.
To support their argument for a “hostile environment,” Trillanes and De Lima cited the oral arguments attended by Sereno, and held before the SC on April 10.
“In the course of the proceedings, the animosity between the parties and some of the members of the Honorable Court became quite palpable and apparent. It has become evident that the Honorable Court cannot render a judgement based purely on the merits of the case..,” they said.
They added that as “duly elected senators of the Republic of the Philippines” then, they have a “specific interest in ensuring that the exclusive jurisdiction of the Senate to hear and decide impeachment cases, as well as the exclusive prerogative of all senators to try the same, are not undermined.”
Sereno is also facing an impeachment complaint.