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UN expert sees link between Duterte’s threats, Sereno’s ouster


President Rodrigo Duterte's remarks against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno constitute a threat to the judiciary and has sent a chilling message to the country's judges, the United Nations expert on judicial independence has said.

In a statement, UN Special Rapporteur Diego García-Sayán said Duterte's pronouncements that Sereno was her enemy and that she had to go appeared "directly related" to the Supreme Court decision on May 11 to oust her from the post.

“The decision of the Supreme Court was issued two days after the President of the Philippines publicly threatened the Chief Justice by saying that she was his enemy and that she should be removed from her job or resign,” García-Sayán said.

“The unprecedented decision of the Supreme Court of the Philippines seems directly related to the threats made against the Chief Justice in relation to her professional activities in defence of the independence of the judiciary,” he added.

Duterte has repeatedly denied any involvement in both the quo warranto case against Sereno before the SC and the impeachment complaint against her before the House of Representatives.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said García-Sayán had "been misinformed” on the issue of Sereno's removal.

Sereno's supporters including the Integrated Bar of the Philippines had called on the UN special rapporteur to take action on her case.

“We reiterate that the President’s dislike of the ousted Chief Justice is not an attack to the judiciary or an affront to judicial independence,” Roque said in a statement.

“It is a reaction to the allegations made by former CJ Sereno against the Chief Executive in many public fora saying the latter is behind her impeachment/quo warranto petition,” he added.

Roque said that it was Sereno’s colleagues—some of whom had testified against her in the impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives—who voted to oust her on the ground of lack of eligibility.

“It was also her peers who asked the ex-CJ to go on indefinite leave by to protect the integrity and reputation of the court after it became clear that the she failed to file some of her annual Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth,” Roque said.

“It is therefore obvious that former Chief Justice Sereno created her own problems and was removed by her colleagues in the Supreme Court," he added.

Sereno has since appealed the ruling with Malacañang wishing her the best in her quest to regain the country’s top judicial post.

“The derogatory statements and threats by President Duterte, which have been televised, broadcast on radio, and carried by newspapers, constitute a vicious attack on the independence of the judiciary,” García-Sayán said.

“Not only do they constitute direct intimidation of the Chief Justice; they also appear to have had have a ‘chilling effect’ on other Supreme Court justices, who may have been deterred from asserting their judicial independence and exercising their freedom of expression," he added. —with a report from Virgil Lopez/NB, GMA News

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