SolGen asks Supreme Court to remove Sereno as chief justice

March 5, 2018

The Office of the Solicitor General on Monday asked the Supreme Court to void the appointment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in 2012 for failing to comply with requirements for the position. In a petition, Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the SC to also order Sereno’s removal from office as a de facto official whose authority hinged on an appointment that was void from the start. Calida said Sereno did not meet specific qualification to become chief justice due to her failure to comply with the required submission of 10-year statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs). "Respondent (Sereno) was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court although she did not show that she is a person of proven integrity, an indispensable qualification for membership in the judiciary under Section 7(3), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution. Such ineligibility means that she is unlawfully holding the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, even as she was ostensibly recommended by the Judicial and Bar Council under Section 8(5), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution," Calida said. "Respondent’s failure to fulfill the requirement of complete filing of SALNs means that her integrity remains unproven," stated the quo warranto petition filed with the high court. A quo warranto challenges the legal basis of one's appointment and seeks the removal of the respondent from office because of lack of qualification or legal basis to continue holding such office. According to Calida, the inclusion of Sereno by the Judicial and Bar Council in the shortlist and her eventual appointment as chief justice in August 2012 by then President Benigno Aquino III  "does not extinguish the fact that she failed to comply with the SALN requirement under the Constitution and relevant laws." "As the filing of the SALNs is a constitutional and statutory requirement, the existence of her previous SALNs for the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 precisely would have furnished the evidence to prove, among others, that she is meticulous in complying with the law... The legal implication of Respondent’s failure to file her SALNs to prove her integrity cannot be downplayed. As the SALN filing is a constitutional and statutory requirement for public officers and employees, she was bound to submit her SALNs," the Solicitor General argued. "The submission of SALNs is not an empty requirement. It is a mechanism devised by law to test the integrity of a person already in the government service," Calida said, citing Section 17, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution. In an interview, Calida stressed that Sereno failed the “integrity test” of the JBC when she did not file SALNs or non-disclosure of her true wealth. "You know there's a law and you violate it. That's a sign that you are flaunting the law," the chief state lawyer said. DMS