Spokespersons slam ‘coordinated efforts’ to unseat Sereno

The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday slammed the "coordinated efforts" to bring her down amid the ongoing impeachment proceedings against her. 

At a press conference in Quezon City, lawyers Jojo Lacanilao and Josa Deinla, two of Sereno's spokespersons, lambasted the various efforts to remove the chief justice from her post.

They said these include the alleged manifesto of Supreme Court officials calling for her resignation, and the attempt of suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari to challenge her claim to the position through quo warranto proceedings.

"Makikita natin na isa ito sa mga inilatag na coordinated efforts para patuloy na sirain, libakin si Chief Justice," Deinla said.

Dubious manifesto

Lacanilao said the authenticity of the manifesto was dubious as it contained no signatures and no person actually stood up for it.

"Ang balita namin, wala yatang union sa Supreme Court na sumusuporta doon, umaamin na sila ang gumawa nun," he said.

"Talagang 'yung source nun, yung genesis ng manifesto, ay kaduda-duda sa amin, so hindi namin masyadong pinapansin 'yung ganung klaseng manifesto," Lacanilao added.

Deinla also questioned the manifesto, saying that it contains a note of gratitude for lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, who filed the impeachment complaint against sereno.

"Meron doong pahayag, doon yata second page, nagpapasalamat sila kay Attorney Gadon. That, in itself, makes the document very dubious," she said.

Quo warranto proceedings

Aside from this, Deinla also hit the quo warranto proceedings being asked by Mallari from Solicitor General Jose Calida to challenge Sereno's claim to the post.

"As we said in a statement that we earlier issued, this has absolutely no basis in law and in the Constitution. The only way by which the Supreme Court chief justice may be removed from office is through impeachment," she said.

Deinla said they would challenge those behind the manifesto.

"If we find out that there is indeed a group of people behind this manifesto, nasa kanila 'yun. Igagalang namin 'yung karapatan nila na magpahayag ng saloobin nila at kung gusto talaga nilang sabihin kung ano 'yung naipahayag nila doon sa manifesto, then go ahead and do so," she said.

"Pero kami, mananatili kaming matiyagang magpapaliwanag sa kanila, kukumbinsihin sila na nagkakamali sila sa kanilang paniniwala," she added.

Lacanilao, meanwhile, called it "extra-constitutional" the supposed move of Supreme Court justices to force Sereno to go on an "indefinite leave."

"If that happened, that would have been a extra-constitutional effort to remove the Chief Justice from a position na ang dapat lang mag-remove sa kanya ay Senado through an impeachment process," he said.

Sereno's letter to the high court's Deputy Clerk of Court on Tuesday confirmed that she is taking an "indefinite leave" to prepare herself for the Senate impeachment trial.

The House Committee on Justice is expected to vote on Wednesday next week on the probable cause on the impeachment complaint against Sereno. —KBK, GMA News