FILE – Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno delivers her commencement speech at the Ateneo de Manila University. PHOTO FROM THE SUPREME COURT PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
The House of Representatives and the judiciary may be headed for a showdown.
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday came to the defense of three magistrates of Court of Appeals after a House committee issued a show cause order for them for ordering the release of six detained Ilocos Norte provincial officials.
In a rare occurrence, Sereno and appellate court Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. issued a joint statement as they appealed for the House leadership to “reconsider” its threat to hold the justices in contempt for granting the habeas corpus petition of the so-called “Ilocos Six.”
“Cognizant of its implications on (the) separation of powers and judicial independence, (we) express deep concern over the show cause order issued by the House committee on good government and public accountability,” Sereno and Reyes said.
The heads of the country’s two highest judicial bodies said the House may seek other legal option in questioning the June 9 resolution of the appellate court’s Special Fourth Division.
“In this light, it is our hope that the House of Representatives reconsider its order and that it instead, avail of all legal remedies that are provided to it under the Constitution, the law and the Rules of Court,” they said.
They stressed that the House “is not without any speedy legal remedy that is consistent with the separation of powers should it disagree with the action of the Court of Appeals, such as an appeal.”
The House has been at loggerheads with three appeals court justices- Associate Justices Stephen Cruz, Edwin Sorongon and Nina Antonio-Valenzuela- following their order to free the Ilocos Norte officials.
The six have been detained at the House after they were cited for contempt over their alleged refusal to answer during a congressional investigation into the allegedly anomalous purchase of P66.45-million worth of vehicles by the provincial government.
After spurning the court order three times, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez threatened to dissolve the appeals court for supposedly interfering with a congressional function.
Cruz, during an interview by the Judicial and Bar Council on Monday, said they were just doing their duty as magistrates and that the House may bring the case to the Supreme Court.
“If we falter because of some threats, then we would show our weakness as magistrates. As I have said, let justice be done though the heavens fall,” Cruz said.
“If we are wrong, they could always go up to the Supreme Court. What we did, your honor, was our duty. We found that the writ should be issued,” he added.