Sereno asks SC to dismiss Calida’s quo warranto plea

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Monday sought the dismissal of the quo warranto petition Solicitor General Jose Calida for lack of jurisdiction and merit.

In her 77-page comment, Sereno insisted that the impeachment is the only way to oust an impeachable official, such as herself.

She said the Supreme Court (SC) has no authority to remove her, citing Section 2, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution and jurisprudence as basis.

She added that the SC "cannot take cognizance of or give due course to the [OSG petition] without running afoul of the plain dictates of the fundamental law and established judicial precedents."

Calida asked the SC to void Sereno's appointment as Chief Justice for her incomplete submission of her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, an "integrity" requirement for applicatns to the post.

Sereno said her alleged non-filing of her SALNs when she was law professor at the University of the Philippines was not in the impeachment complaint against her, hence the lack of opportunity to debunk it.

She insisted that she complied with the SALN law, a position she said she is ready to prove in a possible Senate impeachment trial "without prejudice to jurisdictional and relevance objections."

Relaxed SALN requirement

She also insisted that only the Judicial and Bar Council, which vets applicants to posts in the judiciary, is the appropriate body to determine who meets the integrity requirement.

"There is no authority for the judicial review of a purely political question, as the OSG cannot substitute its judgment for the discretion of the JBC to include a name in the shortlist for the position of Chief Justice, and certainly the OSG cannot overturn the then President's decision to appoint her to the position," she said.

The JBC had waived the SALN submission requirement not only for her but for 13 other applicants "who failed to submit their complete SALNs to the JBC," she said.

Citing the rules of court, she also raised that the one-year period for the filing of the petition had lapsed.

"There is no authority to commence a quo warranto proceeding more than four years after the expiration of the one-year statute of limitations," she said.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman had also raised the same argument.

Don't preempt impeachment process

In seeking the dismissal of the petition, Sereno also said she "deserves her day in court before the Senate sitting as an impeachment tribunal."

"To rule otherwise, and to preempt the impeachment process by summarily ousting the Chief Justice via quo warranto, would be tantamount to overthrowing the Constitution itself," she said.

The House justice committee earlier in the day approved its committee report and the six articles of impeachment against Sereno.

Sereno's spokesperson Josalee Deinla said the top magistrate is "eagerly awaiting" her trial at the  Senate.

Sereno is currently on an indefinite leave of absence to prepare for the trial. —NB/ALG, GMA News