Sereno’s photo, name removed from SC website despite pending appeal of ouster

Despite her ouster not yet being final, unseated Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's name and photo have already been removed from the Supreme Court (SC) website's list of incumbent magistrates.

A check on the high tribunal's official website on Friday afternoon shows only the SC logo against a purple backdrop in the box where the erstwhile top judge's name and picture used to be in until at least almost 1 a.m. of June 6, Wednesday.

The SC Public Information Office, which runs the website, has yet to respond for a request for comment.

Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's photo is now nowhere to be found in the Supreme Court website's roster of magistrates.

Meanwhile, the Wikipedia entry for the unseated top magistrate calls her a "de facto" Chief Justice, consistent with the argument of Solicitor General Jose Calida, since he petitioned the SC to expel her from the post.

Sereno was disqualified from the Office of the Chief Justice last May 11, upon the granting of Calida's petition for quo warranto, which argued her appointment to the post was invalid due to an alleged lack of integrity.

Sereno has since appealed her ouster through a voluminous motion for reconsideration, urging her colleagues to reverse its "null and void" landmark decision as she insisted she could only be removed from office via impeachment.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio said Sereno's appeal may be decided this month.

The SC earlier said Sereno's ouster was "immediately executory," but only after her appeal gets resolved will the decision become final. — MDM, GMA News