A rift is brewing between Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and another lady magistrate after the latter questioned several administrative orders of the former, including the appointment of a Philippine Judicial Academy official and provision for travel allowances of her staff.
In a memorandum circulated among members of the 15-member bench last week, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro urged her colleagues to review Sereno’s orders, which she claimed lacked prior approval from the en banc as a collegial body as provided for under the rules.In particular, De Castro assailed the appointment of lawyer Brenda Jay Mendoza as Philja chief of office for the Philippine Mediation Center, which she said violated Administrative Order No. 33-2008 which requires the appointment for the post to be approved by the SC collegially.
De Castros said Mendoza’s appointment in June 2016 was approved only by Sereno and two other senior justices through a memorandum that did not pass through the full court.
She added that the appointment of Mendoza’s predecessor, Sandiganbayan Geraldine Econg, was approved by the full court in July 2015 precisely because of the requirement set in the administrative ruling.
“Please note that the Memorandum does not mention the name of the applicant to the position recommended by the Philippine Judicial Academy. No Philja board resolution recommending Atty. Mendoza as PMC chief was submitted to the Court for action unlike in the appointment of PMC chief Econg. Hence, Administrative Order No. 33-2008 was not followed in the appointment of Atty. Mendoza,” De Castro said.
Because of this, De Castro asked her colleagues in the SC “to review the appointment of Atty. Mendoza” as chief of PMC.
In the same memorandum, De Castro also questioned Sereno’s grant of foreign travel allowance to members of her staff without required approval from the full court.
The lady magistrate disclosed that the Chief Justice’s staff members were being given travel allowances even when their trips abroad were on “official time,” which should not involve expenditure of public funds.
“The Chief Justice has granted to the members of her staff travel allowance for foreign travel without the requisite Court en bank approval, which every justice has to secure to be authorized to travel abroadon official business,” De Castro said, citing the frequent travel of Sereno’s staff Atty. Ma. Lourdes Oliveros.
“The Chief Justice granted (Oliveros) foreign travel allowances charged to the Supreme Court funds without Court approval. The same is true with the foreign travel of the other staff in the OCJ.”
For this reason, the magistrate asked her fellow justices to collegially “impose compliance with the requisite Court resolution approving foreign travel of court officials and personnel on official business before the expenditure of Supreme Court funds is authorized for said travel.
“Lastly, De Castro also questioned the “long delay” in the appointment in vacant key positions in SC pending before Sereno’s office, “which is prejudicial to the best interest of service.”
She particularly cited the positions for SC deputy clerk of court and chief attorney, which had been vacant for almost four years already, and the two positions for assistant court administrator, which had also been vacant for over four years already.
De Castro also urged the full court to “order the posting of the long vacant positions and adopt guidelines to require expeditious posting and filling-up of vacant positions to serve the best interest of the service.
“It can be recalled that the SC revoked in 2012 an order of Sereno Sereno to reopen a regional constitutional administrative office (RCAO) in Visayas without their approval.
Sereno drew the ire of her colleagues when she issued Administrative Order No. 175-2012 on Nov. 27 that created the Judicial Decentralization Office and reopened the post of RCAO in Cebu without getting the approval of the full court.
She appointed Econg to head RCAO-7 and even went to Cebu City for the reopening of the office.
It was also De Castro who questioned Sereno’s order then.The chief justice is currently facing threats of impeachment by leaders in the House of Representatives after reportedly ordering the Court of Appeals justices to defy the show cause order issued by lawmakers against them over the case of the so-called “Ilocos 6.”