Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Carlos Zarate (CDN PHOTO/CHOY ROMANO)
A member of the House Makabayan opposition bloc on Tuesday said the Supreme Court’s (SC) denial of their petition to intervene in the quo warranto proceedings against Chief Justice on-leave Maria Lourdes Sereno was “unusual,” and “disempowers the public.”
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said that in the past, the SC had allowed the participation of public interest groups in cases of transcendental importance.
“This decision disempowers the Filipino people,” he said in a statement.
“In fact, as early as the filing of the quo warranto case, the Solicitor General is trying to wrest from the people, through their representatives in Congress, to decide the case of the Chief Justice through an impeachment trial. This may worsen now that the SC denied the intervention in the quo warranto case,” he added.
The High Court (SC) earlier denied the interventions filed by groups, including that of the House Makabayan opposition bloc’s.
READ: Groups, former Senator ask SC to junk ouster case vs Sereno
But it “noted” the intervention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
Aside from these, the SC had also asked Sereno to personally appear at the oral arguments on the quo warranto petition filed against her on April 10 in Baguio City.
READ: SC asks Sereno to attend oral arguments on quo warranto case
The quo warranto petition seeking to disqualify Sereno as Chief Justice was filed by the Office of the Solicitor General last March 5, alleging that she was unqualified for the position. /je