Sereno bucks resignation anew, ‘to fight impeachment to the end’

TOP MAGISTRATE STANDS FIRM: ‘I WILL NOT RESIGN’. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno speaks at a news conference of Coalition for Justice in UP Diliman, Quezon City. (NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/Philippine Daily Inquirer)

“I will not resign.”

This was the stern rebuttal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno hours after several Supreme Court officials and employees implored her to make the “supreme sacrifice” of resigning from her position on Monday.

In a speech at the University of the Philippines in Diliman on Monday, Sereno said the “right thing to do” is to fight until the end of her impeachment case.

“I will not resign,” Sereno said. “I am determined to wage ‘til the logical end of this battle started by those who seek to undermine the Constitution and the judiciary. I am resolute in carrying on the good and noble fight for judicial independence. I will finish the course of this thorny race.

READ: ‘Resign!’ judges, court employees tell Sereno

Sereno, who was compelled by her fellow justices to go on indefinite leave, asserted she would stand up against those who wanted to undermine the judiciary.

“I do not doubt that resignation is the easier option. Allowing the weight of the office of the Chief Justice to be immediately lifted off my shoulders, freeing me to pursue many things ordinary citizens do. It will end the unrelenting attacks against my person, my staff, and other court officials,” she pointed out.

“But I do not make choices in life on the basis of what is the easier option; but what is the right thing to do. And without the slightest doubt, the right thing to do is to fight this impeachment to the end,” she added.

Sereno further said resigning from her post as Chief Justice “will only serve to erode the independence of the Supreme Court and embolden those who demand a subservient judiciary.”

“To do so would invite the kind of extra-constitutional adventurism that treats legal rights and procedures as mere inconveniences that should be set aside when it suits the powers that be,” she noted.

During the flag-raising ceremony at the SC in Manila earlier Monday, Erwin Ocson, president of Supreme Court Employees Association, “pleaded” with Sereno to give up her post “for her sake and the sake of the Filipino people.”

Last week, through a vote of 38-2, the House committee on justice found probable cause in the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Larry Gadon against Sereno.

READ: House justice panel finds probable cause to impeach Sereno

Gadon, in his complaint, accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust.                      /kga