Sereno about to be kicked out by peers

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will be dismissed from her lofty post later this month or in June, according to a very reliable source at the Supreme Court.

“We won’t allow Congress to impeach and remove the Chief Justice from office. It would be an embarrassment to the Supreme Court. We will remove her ourselves,” an associate justice of the high tribunal told this columnist.

The House of Representatives is about to elevate the impeachment complaint against Sereno to the Senate which will act as a court and put her on trial.

Sereno is being accused, among others, of not filing her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth before her appointment to the highest position in the judiciary.

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Her predecessor, Renato Corona, was impeached over the nondeclaration of some of his assets.

The process of removing the Chief Justice from her position by fellow justices is called quo warranto.

Quo warranto is a Latin term meaning “by what authority.”

The other justices are questioning Sereno’s right to hold on to her position.

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“It’s going to be in April or in June,” my source said.

“But why not May?” I asked.

“Because May is the month when justices are busy deciding cases during their summer break in Baguio City,” replied my source.

“Removing her is already a certainty,” said the source.

“And please don’t quote me,” the associate justice added.

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It seems that because of charges against the Chief Justice which have diminished the mystique of the judiciary, orders from lower courts are no longer obeyed.

For example, the order of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court to reinstate a reputable security agency at Ninoy Aquino International Airport has been ignored by Ed Monreal, general manager of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

Monreal has instead reinstated a rival security agency which was notorious for bribing MIAA officials during the previous administration.

The same agency’s guards are so inefficient and cowardly they allowed a gunman to burn the casino at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.

By ignoring the court’s order, Monreal is risking detention for contempt of court.

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Oscar Albayalde, incoming chief of the Philippine National Police, is feared by corrupt, abusive and lazy policemen.

Albayalde, as head of the National Capital Region Police Office, went around Metro Manila incognito on a motorcycle and caught cops who were sleeping while on duty.

A stickler for discipline, he has dismissed more Metro Manila policemen than all his predecessors combined.

When President Duterte asked whether Albayalde would make a good PNP chief, the people around him said: “He’s very strict.”

“That’s the reason I appointed Albayalde as PNP chief,” said the President.