Supreme Court justices to discuss TRO on party-lists’ proclamation

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court is expected to take up in full session (en banc) on Tuesday the controversial order of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno that stopped  the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from proclaiming the five remaining party-list election winners because of a pending petition from a disqualified group representing senior citizens.

Associate Justice Teresita Leonarda-de Castro, who was the justice in charge of the senior citizens’ case, had complained that the Chief Justice’s temporary restraining order did not reflect her actual recommendation and might have gone overboard.

De Castro said that she had recommended restraining the poll body from implementing the delisting and disqualification of the party-list group concerned. But  Sereno issued a different TRO, while “omitting” her recommendation, De Castro said in a May 29 letter to Sereno.

Sereno wrote back to De Castro on May 30, saying that the matter would be taken up by the full court on June 4 during the resumption of its sessions.

Sereno said the court should collectively decide  whether or not to restrain the Comelec from delisting the party-list group Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines Inc.

The Chief Justice justified her action, saying that no “irreparable harm” was caused by the TRO  she had issued against further  proclamations of winning party-list groups.

The Senior Citizens party-list group received more than 600,000 votes in the May 13 elections, which would entitle it to two seats in Congress.

It was the second time De Castro had called Sereno’s attention to discrepancies between her orders and the actual decisions or deliberations  of the court.