Robredo on quo warranto vs Sereno: 'We can't stay silent'

MANILA - Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday called on the public to take a stand on the quo warranto petition seeking the removal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno from office.

"Hindi maaaring mananahimik na lang tayo sa dilim na dulot ng mga pangyayari nitong mga nakaraang buwan. Kailangan nating isantabi ang ating takot at ipaglaban ang ating hudikatura,” Robredo said at the “Free the Courts” forum.

(We can't stay silent amid the darkness caused by events in the past months. We need to set aside our fear and fight for our judiciary.)

"The quo warranto case against the chief justice is not just her fight. It is our fight. Whatever the SC decides now will form part of our nation’s laws and will have an impact on all of us moving forward,” she added.

Filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, the quo warranto case seeks Sereno's ouster over her alleged failure to file her statement of assets, liability and net worth (SALN) as a University of the Philippines professor.

• Politically driven? Ex-CJ Puno chimes in on quo warranto case vs Sereno

The same allegation was raised in the separate impeachment case against the Chief Justice, which also accused her of bypassing her colleagues and having an extravagant lifestyle.

Robredo said institutions like the Supreme Court must be protected together with the constitution.

To be brave and voice dissent in order to protect democracy, she said, is necessary these days.

“As your duly-elected vice president, I took an oath to defend the constitution. You can count on me to do everything in my power to right this wrong," Robredo vowed, drawing cheers from the audience.

"We will not go quiet into the night. We will always fight for what is right. Together, we will prevail," she said.

The Vice President did not grant media interviews after the event.

DANGER AHEAD

Before Robredo’s speech, some legal luminaries also underlined the dangers posed by a granted quo warranto petition.

Atty. Abdiel Dan Fajardo, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said the Senate has the sole prerogative to hold an impeachment trial.

• IBP president says SC en banc has no jurisdiction over integrity issue vs Sereno

Fajardo also warned of a complicated scenario when asked about the earlier statement of Senate President Koko Pimentel that his chamber may still hold an impeachment trial if they see basis in the case, even if the quo warranto petition has been granted by the Supreme Court.

• Senate can't review SC decision on quo warranto vs Sereno: ex-justice

“If it so happens that the Chief Justice is ousted via quo warranto and the period to file the quo warranto would still be running, so by that time the decision is not yet final. If the Senate makes the determination upon receiving that the articles of impeachment that it is assuming jurisdiction to the exclusion of any body, then that’s possible. But if course, kakaibang kaguluhan na naman 'yun. There would be questions on the provisions of the constitution in relation to that,” he explained.

De La Salle College of Law dean Jose Manuel Diokno, meanwhile, echoed Robredo's call for the public to make a stand on the quo warranto petition.

“The time for to take a stand, if we want to make a stand, is now. Because if we do not make a stand now, there may be nothing for us to stand for in the future,” he said.

Various groups will hold a vigil in front of the Supreme Court on the eve of May 11, when the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the plea, said Teresita Deles of the INCITEGov group.

Activist-priest Robert Reyes, meanwhile, asked the public to pray for the safety of the country and its democracy, following what he calls as the “death of a healthy, genuine politics... death of genuine leadership and birth of (political) turncoatism.”