SC orders Chief Justice Sereno to appear in oral arguments on quo warranto petition

April 3, 2018

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to appear in oral arguments on the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida on April 2018 in its summer en banc session in Baguio.

“The petition for quo warranto will be heard on oral argument on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 2 p.m. at the Supreme Court Session Hall in Baguio City, with an instruction to respondent Chief Justice for her to attend personally and answer questions from the Court En Banc,” SC spokesperson Theodore Te said in a  media briefing.

The high court also denied the petitions for intervention filed by the Makabayan lawmakers led by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate and a group of private individuals led by Fr. Robert Reyes seeking they be allowed to intervene on the petition. The SC merely noted the same bid by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

In his quo warranto petition, Calida sought to nullify Sereno’s appointment, citing her alleged failure to  disclose her wealth before applying for the top SC post in 2012 following the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona due to unexplained wealth.

In her comment, Sereno asked the SC to dismiss the petition, arguing that her fellow magistrates have no authority to remove her from office via quo warranto since under the 1987 Constitution mandates that impeachable officials like her can be ousted “only by impeachment.”

Sereno cited Section 2, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that impeachable officials, which include all members of the SC, may only be removed from office upon impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court.

Sereno said giving due course to the quo warranto petition would preempt the looming impeachment trial in the Senate, depriving her of the opportunity to answer all the allegations in the complaint raised by lawyer Larry Gadon.

The House of Representatives committee on justice approved last March 19 with a 33-1 vote the articles of impeachment against Sereno. DMS