(Eagle News) –“Resign.”
This was the message of Maria Lourdes Sereno to President Rodrigo Duterte, whom she claims had a hand in the Supreme Court decision to nullify her appointment as Chief Justice.
Sereno made the remark on Thursday, May 17, even as Duterte has already repeatedly denied he was behind the move,
Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque has also noted that it was “out of character” for the chief executive to meddle in the affairs of the different branches of government and departments.
“Galing sa kanyang bibig, ang pag-amin na siya ang pasimula at at magpupursigi sa pagtanggal sa akin. Puwes, ginoong Pangulo, mag-resign ka na,” Sereno said during a forum organized by her supporters.
She was apparently referring to the declaration of an irked President Duterte she was an “enemy” of the state, following her repeated comments she was behind the ouster move despite his repeated denials.
Voting 8-6, the Supreme Court granted the quo warranto petition filed against Sereno, ruling nullifying the appointment of a public official was a completely legal act.
The High Court made a distinction between impeachment and quo warranto; the first, it said, was political in nature, while the second was judicial in nature.
The Supreme Court said both could proceed “independently and simultaneously.”