Duterte says Sereno sitting on TRO vs implants

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday accused Supreme Court Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno of “sitting on” the temporary restraining order on contraceptives previously tagged as abortifacients by pro-life groups.

Duterte expressed dismay that the government spent money on the contraceptives in question only for them to be left unused until they expire.

“Alam mo itong mga Justice sa Supreme Court, wala akong problema. But the way things are being run, kagaya nitong sa contraceptive. Dumaan na ‘yang ilang expert eh tapos sabihin ni Sereno na it’s a—it causes abortion,” he said.

“And yet, nagbili na tayo ng medisina, expecting that it would, you know, be needed by government to—para maumpisahan na. And until now, it’s two years ago, nag-expire na ‘yung medisina, Sereno is sitting on it. What’s the problem, ma’am?” he added.

Duterte said that the high court should issue a decision instead of extending the TRO.

“A simple presentence would say if you are going to deny it, ‘We denied it because it is an abortive substance,’” he said.

“Hanggang ngayon wala. And yet you call us for the slow movement of… There is something terribly wrong in our country, I tell you—very, very wrong,” he added.

Sereno already clarified that the TRO was only on two implants: Implanon and Implanon NXT.

"As clearly stated in the decision dated August 24, 2016 and again in its April 26, 2017 decision denying the motion for reconsideration, the TRO is limited to only those implants," she said.

Sereno added that the SC could only lift the TRO when the Food and Drug Administration decides that the implants are safe to use. — BM, GMA News