Philippine Supreme Court Expels Chief Justice Who Defied President Duterte

Karl Romano
2018.05.11
Manila
180511-PH-protest-1000.jpg Philippine activists stage an indignation rally in Baguio City in support of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno after the Supreme Court voted to remove her from the bench, May 11, 2018.
Karl Romano/BenarNews

The Philippine Supreme Court voted Friday to remove its chief justice who has been a leading figure in questioning the policies of an increasingly autocratic president, Rodrigo Duterte, including his administration’s war on drugs that has left thousands dead.

The court voted 8-6 to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, 57, the first woman to hold the top post of the judiciary over questions about her integrity. The justices ruled on a petition filed by Manila’s solicitor general, who had sought her disqualification on charges that she had failed to publicly disclose her true net worth.

“In this case, it was found that respondent is ineligible to hold the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court position for lack of integrity on account of her failure to file a substantial number of SALNs [Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth] and also, her failure to submit the requires SALNs to the JBC [Judicial and Bar Council] during her application for the position,” Associate Justice Noel Gimenez Tijam wrote in handing down the decision.

“A public officer who ignores, trivializes or disrespects Constitutional and legal provisions, as well as the canons of ethical standards forfeits his or her right to hold and continue in that office,” Tijam added.

Sereno’s ouster was greeted by protests from her supporters, who argued that the constitutional way of removing a Chief Justice was through impeachment in Congress.

The combative chief justice left the court and met with her supporters at midday, vowing to continue to fight. The ruling can be appealed in 15 days, but the high court rarely reverses itself.

“This is the first in our history that the majority of the Supreme Court removed one of their own,” Sereno told the crowd, who numbered in the few thousands before noon.

“They took the exclusive job of the Senate, blatantly violated their oath to protect the constitution and destroyed the constitution,” she said.

A “clique of magistrates” may have voted her out, said Sereno who added that this was “not the end but only a beginning.”

“On this day, let us unite and let our voices be heard. We cannot stay silent because this would mean we become a party to their abuse of power,” she said.

Senator Leila de Lima, also a fellow critic of the government who was jailed last year on trumped-up drug charges, said Friday’s ruling was the “greatest travesty” of justice committed by the high court since 1973, when its members, cowed by dictator Ferdinand Marcos, upheld his martial law.

What followed was the darkest period in recent Philippine history, with thousands of political opposition figures jailed, and thousands of more activists believed to have been killed by pro-Marcos forces.

“This one ushers in another era of another dictatorship as the court once again puts an end to the last gasps of a dying constitutional democracy,” De Lima said in a statement from jail, where she was awaiting trial.

“The Supreme Court wants to be the law of the land and rule through judicial tyranny. President Duterte has now his partnership,” De Lima said.

Ouster precedes impeachment vote

The court’s decision came ahead of an impeachment vote against Sereno by the Duterte-controlled House of Representatives on corruption allegations filed by a lawyer with known ties to the politicians close to the president. The House still had to vote in the plenary, but decided to wait out the results of the Supreme Court vote.

Friday’s vote made Sereno the first Chief Justice to be removed through a vote by her fellow justices. Renato Corona, a late chief justice, was impeached on similar corruption charges.

Sereno, a constant irritant to Duterte, has publicly questioned his war on drugs.

Sereno had snubbed the House hearings, and instead dared her critics to impeach her so she could defend herself at the Senate, where she said she believed she stood a better chance at getting cleared.

In March, other justices forced her to go on leave. Sereno complied with the demand, but abruptly cut her leave short on Wednesday. She presided over the proceedings Friday, but abstained from voting.

In its 153-page decision against the respondent Sereno, the court wrote that “proven integrity” was a mandatory requirement for any person appointed to the position of chief justice, and that, “no one is above the law and the Constitution, not even a Chief Justice who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and obey the laws of the land.”

Marvic Leonen, one of the six who voted against removing Sereno, said the petition should have been dismissed outright.

“It does not deserve space in judicial deliberation within our constitutional democratic space,” Leonen said in his dissenting opinion, arguing that the process by which Sereno had been removed “is a legal abomination.”

“It creates a precedent that gravely diminishes judicial independence and threatens the ability of this court to assert the fundamental rights of our people,” he said.

Sereno an ‘irritant’


Duterte in April publicly called Sereno an “enemy” and ordered his allies in Congress to speed up her removal.

“I will request the Congress, go into the impeachment right away,” the president had said.

“I will not hesitate to do what is in the best interest of my country. If it calls for your forced removal, I will do it,” he added.

Duterte considers Sereno an irritant who had publicly questioned his policies. In particular, she had questioned Duterte’s drug list, which, he had said, contained the names of some 150 individuals in the drug trade.

It includes the names of policemen, military personnel, politicians and members of the judiciary. Sereno had told judges to ask policemen for warrants before giving up, and cautioned Duterte that his officials could have made a mistake.

Three mayors who were on the list were killed by police in alleged shootouts, but some judges were later found out to be already dead, proving the list to be erroneous.

Sereno had also voted against Duterte’s move to place the entire southern Philippines under martial law to defeat Islamic militants; and to rebury the remains of dictator Marcos in a heroes’ cemetery.

In both instances, she was outvoted by her colleagues.

Dennis Jay Santos contributed reporting from Davao, southern Philippines.

POST A COMMENT

Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.