(Eagle News) — Maria Lourdes Sereno on Tuesday, June 19, called the Supreme Court decision that “stripped” her of her “authority and power” as Chief Justice an “unjust” one, as she lashed out at President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration for the supposed “weakening” of the “rule of law” in the country.
Speaking before the University of the Philippines Diliman, Sereno said the SC “committed seppuku without honor” when it upheld its May 11 ruling that nullified her appointment as Chief Justice.
This was after she blasted the House justice committee hearings that stem from a separate impeachment complaint filed against her, calling them a “farce,” and lashed out at Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who she claimed held hostage the judiciary’s budget to force her out of office.
“Lahat ng ito ay nagsimula nang si President Duterte ay naupo at isa isang binatikos ang mga pinuno ng mga nasabing ahensya at binitbit ang mga mapanira niyang panawagan ng kanyang mga alyado,” Sereno said.
According to Sereno, the “responsibility for the weakening of rule of law” thus was Duterte’s alone.
Saying she did not have to be Chief Justice to “defend our laws and institutions,” Sereno said there were many questions the President needed to answer, including, among others, his “relationship with China, the proliferation of drugs from China, the killing of more than 27,000 Filipinos and disappearance of thousands more, the situation of our brothers in Marawi” and the supposed infringement on freedom of speech and the press in the country.
“We will continue to ask these questions and demand answers. Perhaps it is fitting as they forcibly closed a chapter in my life, we are opening a new chapter in the life of the nation on the birth anniversary of Gat Jose RIzal. The unity we have forged these past few months will be the foundation of a new people’s movement that will help Filipinos…understand important issues..Lalaban po tayo! Tatayo po tayo,” she said.
“The Constitution will be our moral compass and genuine democracy and social justice will be our true north,” she added.
In junking Sereno’s appeal for lack of merit, the SC, voting 8-6, said she did not raise any new arguments that warrant a reversal of the High Court’s May 11 ruling.
The same justices who voted for the junking of Sereno’s appeal were the same justices who voted to nullify her appointment as Chief Justice.
These were Justices Noel Tijam, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes and Alexander Gesmundo.
