Malacañang urged the public to respect the Supreme Court decision ousting Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, and said the high court was duty-bound to uphold the 1987 Constitution as a coequal branch of government.
“Let us respect the granting of the quo warranto petition as the proper remedy (in the) ruling against Sereno,” said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
‘Dura lex sed lex’
Malacañang issued the statement three hours after the Supreme Court, in an unprecedented move, voted 8-6 to oust Sereno on Friday by granting the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida that questioned Sereno’s qualifications for the post.
“The court ruling is likewise an assertion of the supremacy of the fundamental law of the land,” Roque said.
“The Supreme Court has spoken. We all must bow to the majesty of the law,” said chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo in a separate statement, adding that we must abide by the ruling “regardless of our disagreement with it.”
“That is how democracy works,” he added.
Panelo said court decisions could not be based on emotions nor biases, and that the high court was only performing its duty of interpreting the Constitution’s provisions.
“Dura lex sed lex: the law may be harsh, but it is the law,” he added.
‘Epitome of independence’
The high court decision to depose Sereno “augurs well for the country,” said Calida, who expressed his gratitude to the justices “for once again upholding the primacy of the Constitution.”
“This decision is the epitome of (the Supreme Court’s) exercise of judicial independence,” the solicitor general said in a statement.
“Despite the raucous voices of those pretending to champion the Constitution, the magistrates stayed true to their oath and faithfully adhered to the rule of law,” he added.
Calida, who has been on leave after rumors of his supposed affair with his young executive assistant went viral on social media, also urged the public to resist “those intending to undermine the stability and integrity, not only of the judiciary, but also of the government as a whole.”