SC asks Sereno to attend oral arguments on quo warranto case

BREAKING ROUTINE. Members of the Coalition for Justice, some of them senior citizens from various parts of the country, picketed the summer compound of the Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 3). They urged the court to dismiss a quo warranto petition that would unseat Chief Justice-on-leave Maria Lourdes Sereno without undergoing impeachment. INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON / EV ESPIRITU

The Supreme Court (SC) has asked Chief Justice on-leave Maria Lourdes Sereno to personally appear at the oral arguments on the quo warranto petition filed against her on April 10 in Baguio City.

In an en banc session on Tuesday, SC magistrates agreed to set the oral arguments and have Sereno personally attend the proceedings in order to answer questions from fellow justices.

En Banc Actions, April 3, 2018 | GR 237428, the SC directs oral argument on Quo Warranto petition against the CJ on April 10, 2 PM in Baguio City: the CJ instructed to appear personally to answer questions from the SC En Banc. Interventions denied except IBP intervention noted.

— Philippine Supreme Court Public Information Office (@SCPh_PIO) April 3, 2018

In a quo warranto proceeding, the petitioner challenges the respondent’s right to hold office.

Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier filed the quo warranto petition against Sereno before the SC, arguing that Sereno should be removed as Chief Justice as she is not qualified for the position.

While the SC denied the other interventions filed by Sereno ‘s supporters, it “noted” the intervention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

In its petition, the IBP said Calida’s petition was “fatally flawed because the allegations therein are clear that the JBC itself did not require the submission of the respondent Chief Justice SALNs from 2001 to 2006.”

READ: Sereno quo warranto case ‘fatally flawed,’ IBP tells SC in plea vs CJ ouster

“Therefore, she had no intent of avoiding the constitutional requirement that would purportedly taint her integrity,” the IBP pointed out.                   /kga