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Inhibit or resign, Sereno supporters urge 5 ‘biased’ SC justices


A multi-sectoral group supportive of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Tuesday said five Supreme Court (SC) justices should quit their posts if they continue to refuse to inhibit from the quo warranto petition against the top magistrate.

"We call on the SC to honor its own Code and instantly compel the inhibition of the Biased 5. If the Biased 5 will not inhibit, we adamantly insist that they resign," the Coalition for Justice (CFJ) said in a statement.

Some 400 Sereno supporters from the CFJ gathered before the SC compound in Padre Faura Street in Manila on Tuesday morning to protest Solicitor General Jose Calida's "unconstitutional" petition for quo warranto.

"We demand that the Highest Court of the land prove to the Filipino people its respect for the Constitution and its own rulings. Justices, observe the law you are sworn to serve," the statement added.

The group was referring to Associate Justices Teresita de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Noel Tijam, and Francis Jardeleza.

Sereno had asked the five justices to recuse from deliberations on the quo warrant petition, which challenges the validity of the top magistrate's appointment in 2012.

Sereno, who is on leave, said the five justices exhibited "bias" against and "animosity" towards her when they testified in the impeachment proceedings at the House justice committee.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio announced the denial of all five of Sereno's motions for inhibition for lack of merit, moments before the Court heard oral arguments on Calida's petition last week.

"The SC is repudiating the Constitution it is mandated to defend. It disdains its own rulings and ignores the Code that sets the ethical bar for magistrates," the CFJ said.

"Its unseemly conduct in these quo warranto proceedings grievously tarnishes its legitimacy as a dispenser of justice. If it favors the Solicitor General, its ruling shall not only be illegal and void, it shall also critically jeopardize judicial independence as well as its own institutional integrity."

A spokesperson for Sereno had expressed fear that the Court may not be able to fairly reach a decision on Calida's petition given the non-inhibition of the five magistrate.

The petition for quo warranto brought by Calida alleges that Sereno lacks integrity for supposedly failing to completely file her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth in accordance with law. Sereno has sought the pleading's dismissal for lack of jurisdiction and merit. —ALG, GMA News

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