(Eagle News) — For the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the only “constitutionally recognized mode” of removing a Chief Justice is impeachment.
In a statement on Friday, the nationwide group of lawyers said “any artifice or device intended to solely target the Chief Justice and short-circuit the process would be repugnant to the Constitution..”
“(It) must be slain on sight if our democratic processes are to be observed,” the IBP said.
According to the group, the duly recognized process was intended “to shield judges from the political elements that may have played a role in their appointment to the bench.”
“The Supreme Court (SC) itself has repeatedly emphasized our Constitution’s built-in bias towards a fearless and an incorruptible judiciary that is prepared to follow the law and to administer it regardless of consequences. We breathe life into this prized democratic value by according the Chief Justice due process of law in accordance with the rules governing the difficult process of impeachment,” it added.
Carpio as Acting Chief Justice
In its statement, the group also welcomed the naming of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio as Acting Chief Justice.
It said there were “no better hands to take the baton of leadership in the meantime that we wait for evidence to be presented or controverted in the impending trial of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno.”
On Friday, Oliver Lozano filed a petition asking the SC to declare void the appointment of Sereno as top magistrate.
In asking for the declaration in his four-page petition, Lozano said any public official “should be above reproach and suspicion..”
He noted Sereno’s alleged failure to comply with the “mandatory legal requirements” for her appointment, apparently referring to the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth Sereno failed to submit when she was a law professor at the University of the Philippines.
He also noted the impeachment complaint she faces, which he said has “caused deep division and dissension in the Bench and the Bar.”