Sereno: I am not afraid of accountability

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday said she does not fear accountability and vowed to vacate the country's highest judiciary post should the Senate impeachment court convict her.

"You can see that I am not afraid of accountability. If I am convicted by the Senate, I will leave, because I understand that that is the process," Sereno told law students at a forum on judicial independence at the Ateneo Law School in Makati City.

"So, it is not a matter of hanging on to a position. It is not in defense of a person, it is in defense of the basic principles that make us a democratic nation," she said.

Her statement comes as the two attempts to remove her from office -- impeachment at the House of Representatives and a quo warranto petition at the Supreme Court (SC) -- await a possible step forward and resolution, respectively.

The House justice committee has approved six articles of impeachment against Sereno, one of which accuses her of not filing some of her sworn Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), the same charge made by Solicitor General Jose Calida before the chief justice's peers at the high tribunal.

Sereno's predecessor, the late Renato Corona, was removed from office in 2012 after being found guilty of committing culpable violation of the Constitution for failing to disclose his SALN as required by the Charter.

Sereno, who is on an indefinite leave from the SC to prepare for a possible and  anticipated trial, also questioned what she described as the "hesitance" of the House to take its case to the Senate. 

Congress has been adjourned since March 25 and will resume session on May 14. It will adjourn again from June 2 to July 22.

"If they are so sure, why are they so hesitant? It is so clear to the eyes of any observer that they are afraid of a Senate trial. I have already told the public, several times, I am willing to face the judgment of the people. I am willing and I am ready to make myself accountable directly to the people," she said.

"No chief justice has ever undergone what I have undergone and what I am going to undergo, to be examined like fish in a transparent bowl where every movement of yours is examined and measured against exact standards of accountability," she added.

Meanwhile, the SC may reach a decision on Calida's quo warranto petition by May, according to Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio. — RSJ, GMA News