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Sereno won’t give in to ‘below the belt’ calls for her to quit — spox


Embattled Supreme Court  Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will not give in to calls for her resignation, one of her spokespersons maintained.

In a television interview on Friday, attorney Jojo Lacanilao said that attempts to put Sereno in a bad light, including her supposed lack of support from colleagues in the SC, were all part of her detractors’ agenda to force the top magistrate to quit from her post.

“Officials of Congress have already asked her to resign. We feel it’s below the belt. This is just a squeeze play for her to resign,” Lacanilao said.

“That’s not going to happen. She will be there. We will ask Congress to actually prove any complaint that they have and [we will face them] in the Senate, and we know we have a strong case,” he added.

Lacanilao also expressed dismay that some of the top magistrate's colleagues in the High Court have allowed themselves "to be part of the process that’s threatening the independence of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government."

“We feel like this is a problem with the independence of the Supreme Court now because they have gone to Congress and laid themselves out,” Lacanilao said.

“In fact, many of them appeared in public and did not appear well. The mystique, mystery of being a Supreme Court justice is gone because some of these justices have already come out and show they are also weak and show they have personal grudges they cannot overcome. They have personal issues against the Chief Justice," he said.

Lacanilao pointed out that the statements of the justices who appeared and testified against Sereno during the hearing had "no bearing" on the impeachment complaint as those were "purely personal opinions and were not grounds to remove Sereno from office."

“Most of the things they have said are disagreements with the Chief Justice on how the rules of the Supreme Court would be interpreted. Some of them are complaints about management or maybe leadership style,” Lacanilao said, adding that it had shown how Sereno's colleagues were not happy that the latter was appointed to lead the judiciary branch.

Sereno is facing an impeachment case filed by lawyer Larry Gadon, accusing the Chief Justice of corruption, excessive use of judiciary funds, falsification of court resolutions, misdeclaration of statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, and manipulation of processes at the Judicial and Bar Council which she heads.

Supreme Court Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta, and Samuel Martires attended the hearing last week led by the House Justice committee.

Three other magistrates—Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam—and retired SC justice Arturo Brion had already appeared before the committee. — Anna Felicia Bajo/BM, GMA News

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