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CJ Sereno nixes resignation calls


Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has no plans yet to resign amid moves to remove her from office through impeachment, her spokesperson said Thursday.

"[It] is not being considered by the Chief Justice even as an option at this point," said lawyer Carlo Cruz when asked to comment on the complainant's call for her to quit so as to avoid humiliation and the inconvenience of impeachment proceedings.

Complainant Lorenzo Gadon, a lawyer, made the call a day after the House of Representatives justice committee deemed his complaint sufficient in form and substance and gave Sereno 10 days to respond to the charges. 

Among the issues raised against Sereno were her alleged questionable administrative orders, frequent foreign travels and grant of allowance to Sereno's top aide and other staff members without Court en banc approval, alleged anomalous purchase of a luxury vehicle, and undeclared earnings from her stint as part of the government's legal team in the expropriation case against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco).

"I have very strong grounds and documents to prove my allegations. She better think it over. You cannot [stop] the members of Congress from asking questions, questions that may even be off tangent just to attack her. They will really tear you apart," Gadon said in a television interview earlier in the day.

Sereno's camp found the complaint baseless even as it hoped that Congress will decide based on the merits, and affirm their commitment to democracy over partisan or parochial interests.

"In the meantime, the Chief Justice continues to discharge her duties with fairness, integrity and humility," Cruz said in a statement following Wednesday's vote. —Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News

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