Justices who voted to oust Sereno may be impeached —Davide

The eight justices who voted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno out of office may be impeached for culpable violation of the Constitution, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. has said.

"The mere act of voting to oust the Chief Justice in gross and culpable violation of the Constitution would itself be a basis to charge them of an impeachable offense," said former at a forum held at the Ateneo de Manila University.

The magistrates of the high court "know very well" that impeachment was the only route to remove an impeachable officer, he said.

However, eight of the 14 justices voted to grant Solicitor General Jose Calida's petition for quo warranto exactly a week ago, finding Sereno guilty of "unlawfully holding and exercising the Office of the Chief Justice."

They are Associate Justices Noel Tijam, who penned the landmark ruling; Diosdado Peralta, Samuel Martires, Teresita de Castro, Francis Jardeleza, Lucas Bersamin, Andres Reyes, Jr., Alexander Gesmundo.

"If they remove on other grounds, that is a culpable violation of the Constitution so all of them can be subjected to impeachment on that ground alone," Davide said.

Another ground for a possible impeachment is deciding cases outside the period prescribed by the Constitution, he said.

Akbayan party-list Tom Villarin has revealed a plan to file impeachment complaints against the eight justices who voted to grant the quo warranto plea. Albay representative Edcel Lagman, another opposition lawmaker, said the eight "deserve to be impeached."

The historic 153-page decision that spelled out Sereno's ouster held that the Constitution allows the institution of a quo warranto action against impeachable officers, including the president and the vice president on the grounds of ineligibility or disloyalty to the country.

Critics of the quo warranto petition have constantly said that granting it would render vulnerable several government officials.

"These are the risks that we must face: instability, insecurity in the system of government, and it is a gross violation of our democratic institutions," the former chief magistrate said. —NB, GMA News