Sereno should be ousted if she wasn’t fit to be named Chief Justice —Panelo

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno should be ousted from the helm of the Supreme Court if she failed to meet the requirements of her post when she was appointed in 2012,President Rodrigo Duterte's legal counsel said on Saturday.

Presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo made the remark as he explained how the quo warranto case filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida questioning the validity of Sereno's appointment would not trigger a constitutional crisis.

"If she was not so qualified at the time of her appointment then her appointment as Chief Justice is void ab initio and therefore the law demands that she be ousted from her position," Panelo said in a statement.

"If she was qualified as a nominee then her appointment was valid," he added.

The Liberal Party the past week said in a statement that the Supreme Court was "courting" a constitutional crisis after it considered the challenge Calida filed against Sereno's appointment because of her failure to submit all the required Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth during her application for the post.

According to Panelo, the issue in the quo warranto case is whether or Sereno was qualified to be a nominee for the position of Chief Justice given the constitutional requirement that a member of the judiciary must possess a proven integrity.

"Was Sereno qualified to be a nominee for the position of Chief Justice given the constitutional requirement that a member of the Judiciary  must possess a proven integrity given her deliberate failure to file her SALN for ten years in succession, which filing is a constitutional requirement?" Panelo said.

Panelo said the claim that the quo warranto case would trigger a constitutional crisis was "infinitely fallacious."

"So is the argument that acquiring jurisdiction over the case is tantamount to stealing from Congress the power to remove an impeachable official expressly granted to it by the Constitution," Panelo said.

"The SC in so doing is merely performing  its duty to decide a case brought before it," he added.

Panelo said the SC could also resolve the matter of Sereno's competence "given that she failed in her psychological tests."

"The constitutional requirement of competence is not limited to the nominee's academic qualification  and the fifteen year law practice but it may include psychological fitness," Panelo said.

Panelo said Duterte recognized and respected the independence of the judiciary and the legislature, "hence he has not intervened in any manner whatsoever in the filing of either actions nor can the initiative by the Solicitor General in filing the quo warranto upon his instruction." —NB, GMA News