SENIOR Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio will head the Supreme Court in an acting capacity after Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno went on indefinite leave to prepare for her looming impeachment trial before the Senate.
Carpio, who chairs the Second Division of the Supreme Court and heads the Senate Electoral Tribunal, will also take over as acting chairman of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal and the Judicial and Bar Council.
Sereno took an indefinite leave of absence that begins today, March 1, to prepare for her legal defense as an impeachment complaint before the House of Representatives looks likely to be transmitted to the Senate for trial.
Carpio, who was born in Davao City, was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and assumed office on Oct. 26, 2001, his 52nd birthday. He is set to retire on Oct. 26, 2019 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Sereno appeared to be in fighting mood as she ruled out resignation as an option despite strong calls from some quarters, including from her colleagues in the Supreme Court, to quit her post.
“Four words. I will not resign,” Sereno said, when interviewed after her speech before the national convention of the Regional Trial Court Clerks of Court Association of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel.
The chief magistrate declined to say whether she was prevailed upon by her colleagues to file an indefinite leave of absence during the Court’s en banc session on Tuesday.
In her letter to the deputy clerk of court, Sereno said, “[D]ue to the demands of the Senate trial where I intend to fully set out my defenses to the baseless charges, I will take an indefinite leave, until I shall have completed my preparation for the Senate trial…”
She said a portion of her leave would be charged against her wellness leave from March 1 to 15, which was originally set for March 12 to 23.
Sereno’s leave come as the Court is hearing cases challenging the government’s war on drugs, its prosecution of drug charges against Senator Leila de Lima and the tax reform program.
The justices, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, are also set to start a ballot recount on Mach 19 on the protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo.
At the House hearing on the impeachment complaint against Sereno, experts who evaluated her for the top post in 2012 said they would not recommend her for the post of chief justice, based on the results of her tests.
“I agree with the findings of the psychologists that based on their findings, it is not recommendable [that Sereno become chief justice],” said Dr. Geraldine Tria.
Tria also disclosed Sereno manifested “five of the nine symptoms” of abnormalities, such as a “lack of empathy for others, grandiosity for self-importance, interpersonally exploitative of others, self-righteousness and a power tripper.”
Tria said this was manifested in Sereno’s unilateral decisions in a collegial body like the high court, where she may have decided based on mood swings. “She shows a little regard for others. They don’t get along. The validation of this is the testimony of the witnesses,” she said.
Tria said the position of the chief justice should be assumed by somebody with an “above average” IQ unlike Sereno.
Sereno’s poor marks in her psychiatric assessment is among the grounds for impeachment cited by lawyer Larry Gadon in the impeachment complaint he filed against the Chief Justice.
Gadon said in his complaint that Sereno’s “psychiatric report described her as ‘dramatic and emotional.’ True enough, this has been manifested throughout her five years in office.”
Psychiatrists Dr. Dulce Liza Sahagun-Reyes and Dr. Genuina Ranoy were hired by the Judicial and Bar
Council to administer the psychological test of Sereno, and they were eventually fired by Sereno in 2013. Tria followed up on the results.
Tria said Sereno’s 109 intelligence quotient is just an “average.” In her opinion, that did not make her qualified at all to the judiciary’s top post, she said.
“Based on the interviews I gathered, there were those whose grades were higher,” she said of Sereno’s fellow applicants to the post vacated by the late chief justice Renato Corona after he was impeached in May 2012.
“We do agree with the evaluation of Dra. Tria,” Ranoy said.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez expressed doubts about Sereno’s appointment after the experts offered their assessment that she was mentally unfit for the job.
Alvarez urged the Office of the Solicitor General to look into the possibility of questioning Sereno’s appointment to the Supreme Court.
“That is serious because for me, that is a betrayal of public trust. Because you pretended to be psychologically capable but you failed it. You fooled the people,” Alvarez said at a news conference.
Alvarez said if he had his way, he would challenge the issue before the Supreme Court.
“If you ask me, I would file a case before the Supreme Court. I will question the validity of the appointment itself,” Alvarez said. “The OSG should study that angle.”
Also during Wednesday’s hearing, Land Registration Authority Deputy Administrator Ronald Ortile said Sereno and her husband Mario Jose had a total of six properties—two in Rizal province, two in Davao City and one each in Cavite and Bataan, but her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth included only four of those.
In his impeachment trial in 2012, the Senate convicted Chief Justice Renato Corona for not being truthful in his declarations in his SALNs.
Sereno on Wednesday said she would fight her accusers with “honor, dignity and grace” once the impeachment complaint against her is sent to the Senate for trial.
“I want to give you the assurance that while I will be taking a leave of absence, the ship of state of the judiciary remains on course,” Sereno said in her keynote address at the 25th national convention of the Regional Trial Court Clerks of Court Association of the Philippines.
“It makes me proud to fight for you,” Sereno added.
In her speech, the chief justice exhorted court workers to focus on their jobs while she prepares for her battle in the Senate.
“I have said time and again: focus on your job. That and prayers are the best forms of support you can give me in this fight,” she said.
Lastly, Sereno said she has no plans of resigning after taking an indefinite leave from office.
“I need to prepare to fight the accusations against me fairly and squarely, with honor, dignity and grace,” she added.
Meanwhile, Sereno’s spokespersons–lawyers Jojo Lacanilao and Josa Deinla–bewailed the “coordinated extra-constitutional” efforts to pressure the chief justice to vacate her post even before an impeachment case is brought before the Senate for trial.
They said she would not resign.
They also acknowledged she was going on indefinite leave, after insisting the day before that she was only going on a wellness leave.
At a news conference, they also denied that her colleagues had forced Sereno to take a leave.