SC employees gird for anti-CJ rally

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

The flag-raising ceremony at the Supreme Court on Taft Avenue in Manila on Monday may turn into a “reverse show of force” for embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, two court sources told the Inquirer on Sunday.

Court employees unhappy with Sereno’s leadership are expected to show up at the weekly gathering wearing red shirts or red arm bands, according to the sources, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak about the activity.

Some justices, who had not been attending the ceremony since Sereno was appointed head of the tribunal in 2012, will also join the protesters, according to one of the sources.

Sereno is expected to skip the event after 13 of her colleagues forced her to go on an indefinite leave starting March 1 to let her prepare for her imminent trial in the Senate impeachment court.

“I will not be surprised if the flag ceremony will be a ‘sea of red,’ but not in support of the Chief Justice,” the first source said.

Judges invited

The source said members of the Philippine Judges Association and several lower court judges had also been “invited” to the 7 a.m. flag ceremony at the Supreme Court grounds.

“There will be court employees and officers who will attend the flag ceremony wearing red shirts. Others will be in their [office] uniform, but they will wear red armbands,” a second source said.

“Their presence is in support of the 13 justices who urged Sereno to take an indefinite leave [last week],” the source added. “It’s also a show of support for [Senior Associate Justice] Antonio Carpio as caretaker of the Supreme Court while she’s on indefinite leave.”

Last week, Sereno apologized to the 13 justices for the confusion caused by her spokespersons, who announced that she was taking a 15-day “wellness leave” to prepare for her defense in the Senate.

The wellness leave was not the indefinite leave she agreed to take at the full-court meeting on Feb. 27.

The second source claimed none of the high court’s justices or senior court officials had required the court workers to attend the flag ceremony.

Chance to speak up

“This is already a message to Sereno that the court personnel and justices do not like her,” the source said. “They are actually disgusted with her. It’s only now that they got the opportunity to speak up.”

Former President Benigno Aquino III appointed Sereno, then 52, Chief Justice in 2012, bypassing senior members of the Supreme Court.

Sereno, who previously issued a memorandum mandating court employees to attend the weekly flag ceremony on the Supreme Court grounds, is expected to be impeached by the House within the week.

The voting on the House of Representatives is scheduled for March 8.

After the committee submits its report, the plenary is expected to vote later this month to decide whether to impeach Sereno and send her case to the Senate for trial.

A vote of one-third of the 293 members of the House against Sereno will send the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

A two-thirds vote (16 of 23 senators) is needed to convict Sereno.

No resignation

Sereno has repeatedly turned down calls for her to step down as she dared her accusers to let her face them at the Senate impeachment court.

Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chair of the House justice committee, said on Sunday that almost all the allegations in the impeachment complaint against Sereno were supported by evidence.

The one exception Umali could think of was the allegation that Sereno had tasked a high Supreme Court official with calling the judges of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court to block the issuance of a warrant of arrest against Sen. Leila de Lima.

27 allegations

In an interview on radio station dzBB, Umali said members of his committee would still vote whether each of the 27 allegations laid by complainant Lorenzo Gadon had probable cause.

These include falsifying various Supreme Court resolutions, delaying action on the petitions for the benefits of retired judges or the spouses of deceased judges, manipulating the nomination of justices, embellishing her credentials, failing to truthfully disclose her wealth, and using public funds on a luxury vehicle and extravagant accommodations.