Sereno accuses OSG of ‘forum shopping,’ seeks dismissal of quo warranto petition

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has accused the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) of "forum shopping" and usurping the authority of the House of Representatives to initiate and prosecute impeachment cases.

In a 24-page supplemental memorandum which her lawyers filed on Friday, Sereno once again asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida against her on the grounds that his office is guilty of forum shopping.

"The OSG has committed willful and deliberate forum shopping, which should result in the outright dismissal of the quo warranto petition,” she said.

Forum shopping is the act of looking for a court or judge that is more likely to render one a favorable result—a prohibited practice as it trifles with the courts and their practices.

Sereno said all elements of forum shopping are present in the quo warranto petition.

She said the issue raised in the quo warranto petition and the articles of impeachment against her are "not only related, but identical," and that these two actions both seek her removal from her post.

“The forum-shopping in this case was willful and deliberate even though it was well-aware of the identical issues, subject matter, and relief sought in the impeachment proceeding,” Sereno said.

The quo warranto petition questioned the validity of Sereno's appointment to her position, saying that she lacked proven integrity for supposedly failing to file all her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth when she was a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

This was also the same allegation in the articles of impeachment against the Chief Justice.

Sereno, meanwhile, questioned why none of the members of the House Committee on Justrice has "spoken against, objected to, or otherwise taken issue with" the OSG’s “blatant arrogation” of the exclusive power of the House of Representatives to prosecute the impeachment case.

She also questioned why Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the impeachment process and the quo warranto proceedings can proceed simultaneously.

“The answer is plain: Those behind the impeachment before Congress and the Petition before this Honorable Court are one and the same,” Sereno said.

Sereno said that some members of the Supreme Court could have possibly been part of the attempt her from her position through constitutional and extraconstitutional matters.

“At the expense of the Constitution, law and settled jurisprudence, their singular goal and objective is to remove the Chief Justice from office,” she said.

“And the tribunal where they have chosen to pursue and achieve this end is the Supreme Court, not because it is—with at least six Associate Justices already prejudiced against the Chief Justice—the forum where they believe they will  secure a victory,” she added.

Sereno has earlier moved for the recusal of Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam in the case, citing bias and prejudice against her.

Last Friday, she also asked Associate Justice Samuel Martires to recuse himself from the case, also citing bias in his "faith-shaming" her during the oral arguments.

In her supplemental memo, Sereno appealed once and for all to her colleagues in the Supreme Court to consider the implications of their decision, “not only on the independence of the judiciary, but also on the political structure carefully designed by the Filipino people and enshrined fundamental law.”

Their decision in the case, she said will decide the fate of the incumbent members of the Supreme Court as well as those who will succeed them.

“The Chief Justice thus humbly renews her call on her brethren in the Supreme Court to remain faithful to their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution, applicable law and jurisprudence, keeping in mind the utmost necessity of safeguarding the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances firmly ingrained therein,” the supplemental memo reads. — BM, GMA News