Lagman: Impeachment, quo warranto proceedings ‘double-barreled assault’ vs. Sereno

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman on Sunday branded the impeachment complaint and the quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as a "double-barrel assault."

Lagman said that what seemed to be a "new track" against Sereno is a quo warranto petition, requested by suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari, in tandem with a looming impeachment trial before the Senate, stemming from the complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon.

The rules of court state that the government can initiate quo warranto proceedings against a person who usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises a public office, among other reasons.

But Lagman said that these two ouster moves will result to nothing.

"This double-barrel assault against the chief magistrate is bound to boomerang because there are no credible and concrete impeachable offenses against Sereno, while the one-year prescriptive period for filing an action for quo warranto has long prescribed pursuant to Section 11 of Rule 66 of the Rules of Court," he said.

Lagman also reiterated that Sereno's appointment to her post was "valid and constitutional," as she complied with the basic requirements in her application for chief justice in 2012, and that her appointment was endorsed to former President Benigno Aquino III.

In a separate statement on Saturday, Lagman said that quo warranto proceedings can only be done during the first year of an official's appointment. Sereno was appointed in 2012, six year before Mallari's petition filed before the Office of the Solicitor General last week.

The House Committee on Justice has finished its deliberation to determine probable cause on the impeachment complaint against Sereno.

The panel will vote on the existence of probable cause on the complaint in a hearing set on Thursday.

Pending on the voting on the complaint's probable cause, House justice panel chairman Reynaldo Umali said that the committee is already drafting the Articles of Impeachment against Sereno. —ALG, GMA News