Malacañang has urged embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to listen to the sentiments of the officials and employees in the judiciary, who has asked her to make the “supreme sacrifice” by resigning from her position.
“It’s up to her. We have left the decision to her, no one can force her to resign if she does not want,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing on Monday.
“I think the sentiment even of the lower court judges have been made known and we can only hope the Chief Justice could take all these sentiments into consideration. But the decision to remain is her to be made,” he added.
During the flag-raising at the Supreme Court (SC) in Manila, officials and employees of the SC urged Sereno to make the “supreme sacrifice” of resigning from her position.
Erwin Ocson, president of Supreme Court Employees Association, “pleaded” to the top magistrate to give up her post “for her sake and the sake of the Filipino people.”
READ: ‘Resign!’ judges, court employees tell Sereno
Sereno, however, maintained that she would not resign, saying that the “right thing to do” is to fight until the end of her impeachment case.
The Chief Justice, 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.
READ: Sereno bucks resignation anew, ‘to fight impeachment to the end’
“I will not resign,” Sereno said in a speech at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
“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,” she added.
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.
Gadon, in his complaint, accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust. /kga