EMBATTLED Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno on Monday expressed belief that President Duterte and House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez are actually behind the bid to impeach her.
In an interview with ANC’s Headstart, Sereno said Duterte has openly sought her ouster based on his public pronouncements.
She noted that the last statement calling for her resignation came from Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr.
Likewise, Sereno noted that Duterte’s previous pronouncements insinuating that the impeachment against her has basis.
“Of course, everybody knows what he [Mr. Duterte] said during those moments and…I think at one time, he thought that…Atty. [Lorenzo] Gadon’s complaints
regarding my extravagant lifestyle had some basis and then he kept quiet about it. So let us just say that I understand that he has also asked me and the Ombudsman to resign at the same time,” Sereno said.
“So does he have a hand in this impeachment? Well I go by his official pronouncement and I wish him success as a President, but I hope he understands that checks and balances are very very important for any democracy,” she added.
‘No show’
Alvarez on Monday warned he would bar lawyers of Sereno from attending impeachment hearings if the chief magistrate chooses to ignore the summons for her to appear in the lower chamber.
Alvarez issued the statement after the lower chamber invited Sereno to the House when the panel determines probable cause on the impeachment complaint against her on November 22.
“If Sereno ignores our summons, we will continue with the committee hearing. We will consider the evidence, all the official documents, as we will be the prosecutor in the impeachment case in the Senate,” Alvarez said in a radio interview.
“I will not allow her lawyers to appear at the committee hearing. They have no business being there. They’re not the ones being impeached. If Sereno were there, then they can accompany her. If the principal is not there, what’s their business attending the committee hearing if they were not invited?” he added.
It can be recalled that, in September, Duterte dared Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to resign with him.
Sereno said she has no idea on Mr. Duterte’s motive in pushing for her ouster considering that they never had any personal conflict.
“We have had no personal skirmish at all. The only time I remember that he made a remark against me was in connection with the letter I wrote to him in August of 2016, requesting that due process be afforded the judges,” she recalled.
Meanwhile, Sereno also hinted that Alvarez is pushing for her ouster as a way of getting back at her over the case of the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc., the builder of the then-controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
“I testified against the onerous terms of the contract that was signed between the government and PairCargo [later named Piatco], and Speaker Alvarez at the time was part of the committee that approved the terms of reference for the contract,” Sereno recalled.