The Quo Warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida seeking to oust Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno from her post is illegal, dangerous to our Democratic System and a gross manifestation of indelicadeza.
ILLEGAL
Under the 1987 Constitution, a Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court may be convicted for culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust by the Senate impeachment court.
The quo warranto petition gives the justices the opportunity to pursue their scheme in removing the chief magistrate without waiting for the constitutional process of a Senate impeachment trial. The quo warranto petition inveigles the Supreme Court to violate the Constitution by usurping the power of the House of Representatives to impeach the Chief Justice and the jurisdiction of the Senate to try and judge the Chief Justice.
Also, Calida’s petition questioning the validity of the appointment of Sereno as Chief Justice in August 2012 passed the prescriptive period of one year as provided under Rule 66, Section 11 of the Rules of Court.
DANGEROUS
“A solicitor general, acting on the orders of a reckless president, has filed a petition to remove a Supreme Court Justice by means other than what is guaranteed by the Constitution. The grounds for the petition are controversial and even the process of its filing remain controversial.
If this petition is granted then it becomes doctrine. Then, no judge nor justice will ever be secure from executive or legislative overreach. And what is to stop one judge from filing a quo warranto against another? Without security nor collegiality the judiciary will be at risk to internal squabbling and external assault.” (Sylvia Estrada-Claudio of Rappler)
Also, it deprives one of the highest official of our land to “her day in court”, which dangerously signals to all freedom-loving Filipinos the beginning of a new tyranny.
INDELICADEZA
Lastly, granting that there is no unconstitutionality nor illegality in the quo warranto, the very fact that the five justices who accused the Chief Justice in a Senate Inquiry will now be the same people who will judge her, glaringly shows a gross lack of delicadeza, making them both accuser and judge.
IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT SERENO
This quo warranto issue is no longer just about CJ Sereno. It is about you. It is about all of us whose freedom is guaranteed by a balance of power between the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Once, the Executive gains control over the Judiciary and then gets the Super Majority in the coming Senatorial Election in 2019, the 2nd half of the Duterte Administration will be indescribably powerful and dangerous. What do you think will happen next?
Dismiss The Quo Warranto!
Make a stand now! Share this to everyone. Text your friends. Go to Padre Faura on May 11.
Shout:
DISMISS THE QUO WARRANTO!
DISMISS THE QUO WARRANTO!
DISMISS THE QUO WARRANTO!”
