MANILA – Maria Lourdes Sereno blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for her ouster as the Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice through a quo warranto petition.
In a press conference on Friday evening, Sereno said the President took no action on Solicitor General Jose Calida’s filing of the quo warranto petition.
“The primary question he has allowed to remain unanswered is why is it the solicitor general filed the petition, the solicitor general that reports to him,” Sereno said.
She added, “The President has full control, actually, of many of the decisions in this branch of government, ‘yun ang reality. If he (Duterte) does not want it, it could have ended. But it did not end, clear as day.”
The ousted chief justice also revealed that she rejected “offers” to have a dialogue with the President to mend ties and ask for the withdrawal of an impeachment complaint and the quo warranto petition filed against her.
“May mga offer. May mga ideya na ganyan na ang solusyon sa problema ay pakikipag-usap o pagbabati,” Sereno said. “Hindi ako nakipagkompromiso. Nanindigan ako. Kung ako ay nag-compromise dun, hihina ako (as chief justice).”
Sereno further said, “Ngunit ang sinabi ko po halimbawa pong sabihin natin na nakikipag-usap ako sa mga malalakas na politiko, ano po ang sasabihin ng taong bayan? Ang sasabihin po nila, ako po ay natatakot sa hirap na haharapin ko.”
She added that she has never compromised her independence as the chief of the highest court in the country.
“Masasabi ko ho ng buong katapatan sa lahat ng huwes na nakakakilala sa akin, sa lahat ng kawani ng hudikatura, hindi po ako nagkompromiso ng aking independiyensya, ni minsan,” Sereno said.
In a 8-6 vote on Friday, the SC justices granted the quo warranto petition. Most of them believed that Sereno’s appointment as Chief Magistrate was void from the start due to her failure to file her statements of assets liabilities and net worth./PN
