President Rodrigo Duterte did not interfere in the filing of a quo warranto petition in the Supreme Court against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, according to Solicitor General Jose Calida.
“He does not interfere,” Calida said during Tuesday’s oral argument on the petition that he had filed.
He said he never talked to Duterte or the leaders of both houses of Congress prior he filed the petition.
“I have no reason to consult them,” Calida said when asked by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
READ: Duterte declares war vs Sereno
“Wouldn’t it [granting of a quo warranto against a sitting justice] weaken the ability of a justice to be able to dissent or express a minority view if we allow ,under the conditions discussed one of the parties for the government to be able to file a case on a sitting justice on a ground that had already been taken into consideration by the JBC (Judicial and Bar Council)?” Leonen asked Calida.
“We are independent of each one of us,” Leonen added. “We can write a strong vociferous dissent against our fellow justice. We are entitled by duty if our conscience tell us that we should file a dissent.”
He said they were concerned about precedents.
Lawer Alex Poblador, counsel for Sereno, said granting the quo warranto petition could open the floodgates to similar cases against impeachable officials who might express dissent against the administration.
But Calida said: “If we could not do something about this quo warranto, it will foster nominees to be appointed even if they are not qualified.” /atm