Robredo: Success of oust-Sereno plea to ‘weaponize’ courts

The success of the petition for quo warranto against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno would "weaponize" the country's courts and could be used to intimidate and eliminate dissent, Vice President Leni Robredo said Monday.

"The quo warranto case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, should it succeed, can be the final blow to the ideal of justice we all depend on," Robredo said at a forum on judiciary independence at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. 

"It can hit us more than once: it tramples our Constitution as well as coopts one of its foundations. It weaponizes the courts and if we allow it, quo warranto can be used as a weapon of intimidation, to kill dissent."

Solicitor General Jose Calida's petition for quo warranto, which seeks the invalidation of Sereno's appointment as chief magistrate over an alleged lack of integrity, is expected to be decided this month.

A critic of the petition, Robredo said the Constitution's mandate that impeachable officers can only be removed from office through impeachment ensures people's protection against being "strong-armed" by those in power.

She has earlier said granting the quo warranto petition could set a "dangerous precedent." Other critics of the ouster bid said it may lead to a "constitutional crisis."

Sereno herself has warned of a "dictatorship" that would ensue if all government employees could be threatened by quo warranto initiated by the solicitor general and the sitting president.

"Our obligation as citizens enjoins us to stand up against those who would coopt the very institutions that are supposed to be our last shield that will protect us against abuse, " Robredo said on Monday.

"As your duly elected Vice President, I took an oath to defend the Constitution. You can count on me to do everything in my power to right this wrong, should it ever come to pass," she added.

Robredo then urged the public to fight for the judiciary, saying the quo warranto case against Sereno is the public's fight.

"We must not give up on our institutions, no matter how hard and how long the fight. They need to be strengthened, not decimated. Because if our justice system defies the Constitution which is the sacred cornerstone of all our laws, wouldn't that be the end of our nation as we know it?" she said.

"Hindi maaaring mananahimik na lamang tayo sa dilim na dulot ng mga pangyayari nitong mga nakaraang buwan. Kailangan nating isantabi ang ating takot at ipaglaban ang ating hudikatura," Robredo added. —KBK, GMA News