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.
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