Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Wednesday said the attempt to remove her from office through a quo warranto proceeding is a mere “scrap of paper that won’t see the light of day.”
READ: Suspended lawyer offers quick way to oust Sereno
Eligio Mallari, president of Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution who has been pushing for a quo warranto case against Sereno, should know what the Constitution says on the removable of an impeachable officer, lawyer Jose Deinla, a Sereno spokesperson, said on Wednesday.
“The Chief Justice, being the fifth highest official of the land, can only be removed through an impeachment proceeding and not through a quo warranto proceeding,” Deinla said.
“We cannot help but view this latest ignorant attempt as part and parcel of the grand plan to harass, malign and humiliate the Chief Justice to force her to resign because her detractors know that the impeachment complaint lodged against her is baseless and contains allegations which are not even grounds for impeachment,” she added.
She said a quo warranto petition once filed would be “nothing but a scrap of paper that will not see the light of day.”
A quo warranto proceeding is an action used to determine whether a person has a legal right to hold an office. /atm