By Meanne Corvera
Eagle News Service
Several senators have expressed dismay over the Supreme Court’s decision to nullify Maria Lourdes Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice, with some saying the only constitutional way to remove a chief magistrate is via impeachment.
“The road to unseating any impeachable officer, including the Chief Justice, must start at the House of Representatives and end at the Senate. No detours are allowed,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said.
According to Gatchalian, “by granting the quo warranto petition to oust” Sereno, the SC “has circumvented this crystal-clear constitutional mandate of Congress, subverting in the process the paramount tradition of separation of powers that lies at the very heart of our republican system of government.”
While acknowledging that the SC “has spoken,” Senator Sonny Angara agreed.
“The ripple effect of the decision may be felt in the coming months and years.I pray that wisdom and sobriety prevail in the future for the good of the country and our people,” he said.
For Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, the SC, “which is supposed to be the cradle of our fragile Constitution, is the same body that killed it” with its decision.
“It is now the darkest hour in our democracy…Those SC justices who committed this heinous crime against our justice system,” he said.
According to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, the decision also made the Solicitor General “the most powerful official in the bureaucracy, even more powerful than both the House of Representatives and the Senate insofar as the removal of impeachable officers is concerned.”
“Sereno will certainly file a motion for reconsideration, which will give the Court the chance to revisit its ruling. I am hopeful that the honorable members of the Court will come around and recognize the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the House as the exclusive legal means available to prosecute Sereno’s ouster,” Gatchalian said.
“In the event that the House will vote to impeach Sereno, I am confident that the Senate will conduct her impeachment trial with the utmost impartiality, probity, and integrity. The Senate will not hesitate to remove her from office if she is found guilty of the serious charges she is facing. What is important here is that Sereno be given her day in court, and that day must come before the Senate acting as an impeachment court, not the Supreme Court,” he added.
