Sereno won't quit despite 'below the belt' attacks of her detractors

Photo from Supreme Court

Manila, Philippines – Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno reiterated that she will not resign and will only continue to fight for judicial independence despite the attacks at the ongoing impeachment which she described as ‘below the belt”.

On Sunday, one of Sereno’s spokesperson, Jojo Lacanilao, said that those attempts to put the Chief Justice in a bad light were all part of black propaganda of her detractors.

Sereno also noted the lack of support from her colleagues in the Supreme Court.

“Officials of Congress have already asked her (Sereno) to resign. We feel it’s below the belt. This is just a squeeze play for her to resign,” Lacanilao said in a statement.

“That’s not going to happen. She will be there. We will ask Congress to actually prove any complaint that they have and [we will face them] in the Senate, and we know we have a strong case,” Lacanilao also said.

According to Lacanilao, the testimonies of six incumbent Supreme Court Justices had no bearing in the impeachment trial as they were all purely personal opinions, and not enough grounds to remove Sereno from her post.

“Most of the things they have said are disagreements with the Chief Justice on how the rules of the Supreme Court would be interpreted. Some of them are complaints about management or maybe leadership style,” he said.

Lacanilao added that it was no secret that some of Sereno’s colleagues do not like her and was not happy when she was appointed as the Chief Justice bypassing other senior associates to become the head of the Judiciary.

“Most of the things they have said are disagreements with the Chief Justice on how the rules of the Supreme Court would be interpreted. Some of them are complaints about management or maybe leadership style,” Sereno’s spokesperson said.

Lacanilao added that it is a public knowledge that some people are out to destroy the Chief Justice.

He also said that Sereno has been “very prudent in handling the judiciary’s resources” and it is not true that the Chief Justice had been living a luxurious life using the tax payers money.

 Source: PNA