THE opposition’s plan to turn ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as a rallying point speaks of its desperation and could backfire because of her low approval rating, the Palace said Friday.
“My feeling is the opposition is desperate,” said presidential spokesman Harry Roque, speaking in Filipino. “They’re looking for a rallying figure and they chose the chief justice.”
“This is a big mistake because if we are to believe all the surveys, the people do not trust her and her approval ratings are so low,” he continued.
Sereno was ousted last week as chief justice after the Supreme Court voted 8-6 to grant the quo warranto petition against her, finding her unqualified for the position because she failed to file her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth—a failure that nine justices believed was a violation of the Constitution.
“If she is the rallying figure for the opposition, they’re doomed,” he added.
On Thursday, Sereno challenged Duterte to keep his promise and resign if it were proved that he was behind her ouster.
Roque dismissed the claim and said Sereno was grandstanding and seeking media coverage by attacking Duterte.
“We see no reason for the President to resign,” he said. “In her case, she violated the Constituion.”
In his separate statement on Friday morning, Roque rejected Sereno’s allegations that Duterte is behind her ouster.
Roque said that Malacañang has even tried to refrain from commenting on Sereno’s call for the President’s resignation.
He added that if Sereno wanted to blame someone, she should blame herself for violating the Constitution by not filing her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.
He also said Sereno has managed to alienate her own colleagues in the Court.
“The President has not violated the Constitution, and unlike the former Chief Justice, [he] enjoys high satisfaction, approval, performance, and trust ratings from the Filipino people,” Roque said.
On Thursday Sereno called on Duterte to resign for having a hand in the plot to remove her as the country’s top magistrate, and tore into him on a wide range of issues, from his failure to stem rising prices to his policy toward China.
Speaking before the Quo Vadis, Quo Warranto forum organized by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Pasig City, Sereno recalled President Duterte’s earlier remarks that he would resign if it were proven that he had a role in her ouster.
“Yesterday he said [talk of his involvement] was not true, and that he would resign. How many times have we heard him say he will resign?” Sereno told the forum participants in Filipino.
The president of Ateneo de Manila University, meanwhile, called for support to overturn Sereno’s ouster through a motion for reconsideration before the Supreme Court.
“There is still time to correct this mistake,” said Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ, in a memo written in Filipino.
Villarin urged the Ateneo community to convince the Supreme Court and the Filipino people to support the motion for reconsideration to be filed with the Court in the next few days.
He also told them to persuade Congress to assert its right to subject Sereno to impeachment proceedings.
Also on Friday, former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. said the eight justices who voted to oust Sereno by granting the quo warranto petition against her could themselves be impeached.
“The mere act of voting to oust the chief justice in gross and culpable violation of the Constitution would itself be a basis to charge them of an impeachable offense,” Davide said at a forum held at the Ateneo de Manila University.
The magistrates of the high court “know very well” that impeachment was the only route to remove an impeachable officer, he said, but eight of them still voted to oust her by way of the quo warranto petition.