Sereno to SC justices: Don’t let Calida trample on charter

Chief Justce Maria Lourdes Sereno –INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has pleaded her fellow justices in the Supreme Court (SC) anew not to let Solicitor General Jose Calida trample on the 1987 Constitution, saying his attempt to unseat her would undermine the country’s constitutional system of checks and balances in the government.

“The Chief Justice thus humbly renews her call on her brethren in the Supreme Court to remain faithful to their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution, applicable law and jurisprudence,” Sereno said in a 23-page supplemental memorandum which her lawyers filed on Friday.

Separation of powers

She also reminded them to consider the “utmost necessity of safeguarding the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances firmly ingrained therein” in their deliberation of Calida’s quo warranto petition against her.

Sereno’s fate

According to several court insiders, the 14 justices had agreed to hold a special full-court session on May 11 to decide on Sereno’s fate.

The top magistrate also cautioned her peers that granting Calida’s petition would not only cripple the judiciary, but it might also be used against them in the future.

Sereno assailed Calida for accusing her of failure to pay taxes for the legal fees she earned when she was consultant of the Office of the Solicitor General in the arbitration case filed by the contractor of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 against the government in 2005.

She said Calida’s new allegation and his claim that she did not submit statements of assets, liabilities and net worth when she was still a law professor at the University of the Philippines only showed that his legal action was tantamount to forum-shopping.