By Meanne Corvera
Eagle News Service
Members of the Coalition for Justice stormed the Senate on Tuesday, May 15, urging senators to assert what they said was Maria Lourdes Sereno’s right to an impeachment trial.
According to the group, in the first place, the “removal” of Sereno from the chief magistrate post via a quo warranto petition was illegal.
“Nag-aapila kami na ipaglaban ang Konstitusyon.. Ipaglaban ang karapatan bilang mga Pilipino..
Saligang batas ang dapat ipatupad,” Tess Bonganay said, noting that Sereno was an impeachable official.
She noted that former Chief Justice Renato Corona was given his day in impeachment court.
“Kailangang bigyan ng araw si Sereno sa Senado,” she said.
In a 153-page decision, the Supreme Court en banc granted the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida against Sereno, thereby nullifying her appointment as Chief Justice.
In the decision, the SC, citing their history, ruled quo warranto was “materially” different from impeachment, the former being a “judicial” process, and the latter a “political” one.
The SC argued the two were distinct “as to jurisdiction, grounds, applicable rules pertaining to initiation, filing and dismissal, and limitations” and as such could proceed “independently and simultaneously.”