Sen. Franklin Drilon (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
No one can force Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to resign, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Monday.
“The matter of resignation is a personal decision on the part of the Chief Justice… No one can force her to resign,” Drilon told Senate reporters when sought for comment on the resignation call against Sereno by judges and employees of the Supreme Court.
READ: ‘Resign!’ judges, court employees tell Sereno
The House of Representatives Committee on Justice has already found probably cause to impeach Sereno, but the chamber has yet to vote on it in the plenary.
Drilon raised the possibility, however, that the impeachment complaint might no longer reach the Senate should the SC rule in favor of the quo warranto petition filed against Sereno, questioning the legality of her appointment as Chief Justice.
The House, he said, might recognize the SC decision and would no longer transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
“That’s a possibility, especially that sinabi ni Speaker [Pantaleon] Alvarez and Majority Leader [Rodolfo] Fariñas na hihintayin nila ang decision ng Korte Suprema,” Drilon said.
Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III also said that only Sereno could decide if she would step down from her post.
“Hands off ako dyan,” Pimentel said in a separate interview. “Basta ang Senate ang inaalagaan ko. We should be ready just in case the articles of impeachment will be transmitted to us. The Senate should be ready to hear, try and decide the case.” /atm