THE camp of embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Tuesday that resignation on her part, following the impeachment complaint, was a sign of cowardice and would not resign since she was not a coward.
Lawyer Carlo Cruz, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, said this as he maintained the country’s top magistrate would not resign as suggested by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
According to Cruz, Sereno intended to fight to the end the impeachment case to preserve the judiciary’s integrity and independence.
“[Resignation] is not an option. It has never been an option. It’s her [Sereno’s] duty to face the charges as Chief Justice to preserve the integrity and independence of the Supreme Court,” Cruz stressed.
Cruz insisted the impeachment case was not only an attack against Sereno, but also an attack against the Office of the Chief Justice and the entire judiciary.
In Malacañang, the Palace said it would let the ax fall against Sereno, after rejecting calls for her to resign.
While they respect the decision of the Chief Justice, who expressed through her lawyers that she would be staying put and that resignation had never been an option, Roque said it would allow the process to continue against Sereno.
Sereno is facing similar charges as her late predecessor Renato Corona—on top of other allegations of mismanagement in the affairs of the high court.
“That’s fine. That’s her answer and we let it be from now on,” Roque told reporters in a regular Palace news briefing.
“Henceforth, that’s the call of the House and that’s the call of the Senate.”
“The suggestion to resign was made so that the constitutional process of impeachment will not have to continue. But since she refused, we will now let the constitutional process to proceed,” he added.
There is no need any more for the President to file an impeachment complaint against Sereno since “other individuals have done it for him,” Roque admitted, referring to previous complainants against the Chief Justice.
“We know that the impeachment against the Chief Justice is now being deliberated upon by the Committee on Justice,” he said, adding “there can only be one impeachment complaint per year.”
“I expect the committee to resume its hearings on the existence of probable cause after they come back from their recess this 20th of November.”
On Monday, Malacañang made fresh calls for Sereno to resign to spare the judiciary from “further damage.”
Roque likewise admitted that Duterte wanted Sereno “to be removed altogether, by all means” and that her possible impeachment would be damaging for the judiciary.
The Palace spokesman called on the Chief Justice “to reexamine very carefully the effect of another removal to the institution itself.”
Earlier, Sereno alluded to a “resurgence of political forces” that have “threatened and harassed” the independence of the judicial system.