Senate as impeachment court can decide on Sereno quo warranto case

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III on Wednesday said that the Senate would prevail over the Supreme Court if the legislative body could convene as an impeachment court before any decision could be made on the quo warranto case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

But Pimentel explained that the Senate would be “like any court in the sense that it is passive.”

“If anything happens before we are convened as a court, we will have no say,” he said.

On the other hand, should the Senate impeachment proceedings come first, Pimentel said, the senators, as judges, would have to vote whether or not to uphold Supreme Court decision.

This means if the decision on the quo warranto case, which Solicitor General Jose Calida filed against Sereno, would be released before the House of Representatives could transmit the articles of impeachment, the Senate does not need to convene as a court anymore.

“Once we become a court, the question would be: Would the Senate recognize the removal of the Chief Justice through a quo warranto? If the majority says it is a valid removal, then there is no need to remove [through impeachment],” he said.

“If we believe that it is invalid [and] from our point of view, there is still someone to remove, then we would continue with the impeachment,” he added. /atm