The Philippine Supreme Court chief justice vowed to fight “bullying” and save judicial independence as she faces an impeachment process that could remove her from office. / AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS
(Eagle News) – Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno continued to defend herself before the student community as she claimed that the impeachment campaign against her was “malevolent and orchestrated,” and “apparently funded by a formidable machinery.”
She also warned that not one person in the country will be safe if she is ousted as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as she faced not only an impeachment process, but a quo warranto case to be deliberated by her fellow justices who had earlier forced her to go on an indefinite leave.
Sereno, who went on indefinite leave on March 1, hinted that her attacks against her was “funded” as she told the audience at a forum in University of the Philippines, Diliman that the allegations against her were “full of falsehoods.”
“It has been nearly eight months, this unceasing attack against my person and my office. Apparently funded by a formidable machinery, the complaint and its ever-expanding scope has attempted to hurl all kinds of charges against me,” said Sereno who is facing six articles of impeachment, including manipulation of processes in the Supreme Court and the Judicial and Bar Council, among others.
“Now, the complainant and his enablers are endeavoring to bring up imagined trespasses committed by me as early as when I was just 26 years old and starting my career here in UP. It’s a wonder they didn’t try to dig up my high school record.”
She also claimed that the real target of the attacks against her were “democratic institutions and constitutional rights and processes.”
“Fake news, alternative facts, vulgar language—descending to the depths by calling persons, genders, classes, advocacies and institutions degrading names—can be considered as just tactical strategies to divert attention from the real prize: democratic institutions and constitutional rights and processes,” Sereno said.
She reminded the audience, mostly women and students, about the importance of protecting the Constitution which, according to her, is “the core foundation of women’s rights in the Philippines.”
“[The Constitution] guarantees equal protection and equal participation of women and men in the social and political life of this nation,” Sereno said.
-Six articles of impeachment vs Sereno-
Sereno has been accused of manipulating the Supreme Court en banc, and even the Judicial and Bar Council, and for her failure to file her Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for at least 17 times, and her alleged failure to accurately declare her income tax returns (ITR) and value-added tax returns from 2007 to 2009.
She was also called out for failing to declare a 2.24 million hectare parcel of land that she allegedly owned in Mariveles, Bataan and P13.8 million of her previous earnings as government counsel in arbitration proceedings against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco), builder of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
She was also accused of “committing corruption and betrayal of public trust when she misused a total amount of ₱18 million of public funds, including the purchase of a Land Cruiser which she had bullet-proofed and the hiring of a consultant that had a compensation of more than P11 million.
The House Committee on Justice, after 15 deliberations, found that all four grounds for impeachment were present in the complaint against Sereno. These are culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, corruption and other high crimes.
Six articles of impeachment were prepared against her by the House Committee on Justice that would be referred to the plenary for deliberations.
Sereno did not appear in any of the hearings of the House Committee on Justice that tackled and deliberated on the impeachment complaint against her.
House Committee on Justice chair Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said Sereno also “deliberately” undermined and disrespected the impeachment proceedings conducted by the House of Representatives against her.
“No one will be safe,” if she is ousted, claims Sereno-
But Sereno claimed that if she will be ousted, this would mean that this can happen to just about anyone. She said that this meant “no one will be safe.”
“The stakes for the rule of law if the evil machinators of the impeachment or the resignation scheme succeed: no one, not one man, especially not one woman, will be safe in this country,” Sereno said. “Everyone will have to look for a political patron, to save herself from incessant harassment, threats and bullying.”
She added: “The Constitution in its present form, will be torn into shreds and with it every right that the Bill of Rights seeks to protect: the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to privacy, the right against unlawful searches and seizures, and the right against deprivation of property without due process of law, yes, the right to life itself.”
The chair of the House committee on Justice which prepared the six articles of impeachment against Sereno claimed these articles of impeachment were “rooted from the findings of psychological and mental disorder of the Chief Justice by the two JBC psychologists and psychiatrist who examined the Chief Justice using the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder or DSM5.”
Umali noted the revelations of the JBC psychologists and psychiatrists during the executive session conducted by the Committee.
He said that Dr. Geraldine Tria observed that at least five symptoms out of the nine symptoms denied in the DSM-5 manifested in the CJ‘s complained acts.
The five symptoms allegedly found in Sereno were the following:
“(1) Interpersonally exploitative, i.e. takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends;
(2) Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power and brilliance;
(3) Lacks empathy such that there is unwillingness to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others;
(4) Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations; and
(5) Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).” (with a report from Moira Encina, Eagle News Service)
