SC justices join Monday flag ceremony as some employees wear red

Ten associate justices of the Supreme Court joined officials and employees, some clad in red, during Monday morning's flag raising ceremony at the SC grounds on Padre Faura Street in Manila.

There was no official statement issued to explain what looked like a red-shirt Monday for some, though earlier reports said it was in support of the 13 justices who reached a "consensus" that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno should take an indefinite leave of absence.

Present during the morning's brief ceremony were Associate Justices Teresita de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Marvic Leonen, Noel Tijam, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes, Alexander Gesmundo, and Francis Jardeleza.

Twelve Supreme Court justices attend a flag ceremony while employees wear red shirts in support of the justices on Monday, March 5, 2018. Danny Pata

Some wearing red neckties, with De Castro in a dress in a shade of red, the magistrates were met with applause by court employees gathered on Supreme Court grounds.

Missing were Sereno, Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, who was at a television interview, and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Jr., Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

Outside the Supreme Court gates, a handful of protesters in black bore signs supportive of the embattled Chief Justice.

The House justice committee is set to vote this week on whether or not the impeachment complaint of lawyer Lorenzo Gadon against the top magistrate has probable cause.

Sereno, who has constantly defied calls for her to resign, is bracing for a Senate impeachment trial, saying the purpose of her leave is preparation for her legal defense for such a proceeding. —KG, GMA News