Calida’s quo warranto case vs. Sereno ‘out of time’, says Davide

Solicitor General Jose Calida's quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is "out of time," former Chief Justice Hilario Davide has said.

In an interview on Bawal ang Pasaway with Mareng Winnie, the petition questioning the validity of Sereno's appointment should have been filed a year after it happened.

Then President Benigno Aquino III appointed Sereno Chief Justice in 2012.

"That one year had long lapsed because the cause of action for quo warranto was supposedly when she failed to file the SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) and about the result of the psychiatric evaluation," Davide told Winnie Monsod.

Calida filed the quo warranto petition as he challenged Sereno's appointment due to her alleged failure to submit all of her SALNs during her application for the post in 2012.

In a 77-page comment, Sereno's camp sought for the dismissal of the petition, noting that the impeachment is the only way to oust an impeachable official, such as the top magistrate.

Davide reiterated his position that Sereno had been condemned in front of the public without an evidence or even hearing the Chief Justice's side.

He said that the calls for resignation had "politicized" the judiciary.

"It is their right but you know for every right, there is a corresponding obligation. They don't have to demand that she should resign because she is entitled to her own position," Davide said.

"It was really a pressure... therefore politicizing further the Court and the judiciary," he added.

"It would affect more the independence of the judiciary in the sense that you have judges crying for the ouster of the chief even without taking into account due process and her right to fairness," Davide said.

Sereno has repeatedly said that she would never resign from her post.

She said she was ready to defend herself before the Senate impeachment court. —Anna Felicia Bajo/NB, GMA News