Sereno: I turned down 'offers' to mend ties with Duterte

MANILA - Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Friday said she rejected earlier "offers" to have a dialogue with President Rodrigo Duterte to mend ties and ask for the withdrawal of the impeachment complaint and quo warranto petition filed against her.

"May mga offer. May mga ideya na ganyan na ang solusyon sa problema ay pakikipag-usap o pagbabati," Sereno told reporters without divulging who volunteered to set up a meeting between her and the president.

(There were offers. There were ideas floated that mending ties with Duterte would be the solution to my problems.)

Sereno said she turned down the offers and idea as she felt that it would compromise the judiciary's independence.

"Hindi ako nakipagkompromiso. Nanindigan ako. Kung ako ay nag-compromise dun, hihina ako (as chief justice)," she said.

(I did not compromise. I stood firm. If I compromised, I would become a weak chief justice.)

"Hindi puwede na ang politicians ang magsasabi o magdidikta sa bayan, kailangan Constitution," she said.

Sereno was ousted as top magistrate after 8 of her colleagues voted in favor of the Solicitor General's petition to nullify her appointment in 2012 for not submitting all her Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net worth (SALNs) when was applied for the post.

An impeachment case against Sereno is still pending at the House of Representatives where Duterte enjoys a "super majority," but the SC ruling makes it moot. 

Sereno, the youngest and the first female chief justice of the Philippines, said she had no regrets that she brushed off the offer to "play politics" with the executive department.

"An outsider, reformer, and someone who is not willing to play politics should be anticipating this outcome," she said.

Earlier this year, Duterte said he considered Sereno his "enemy" after she urged him to explain why the government's lawyer was seeking the invalidation of her appointment.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Palace: Duterte knows his limits

MANILA – President Duterte knows his limits.

So said Presidential Communications Office chief Martin Andanar after the president drew criticisms for threatening to impose martial law in the Philippines in response to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's letter airing concerns with the leader's move to name judges allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

Addressing fears of a second martial law in the Philippines, Andanar said Duterte ''merely asked a rhetorical question and said it under the context that his anti-drug campaign cannot wait for the slow wheels of justice – PH style."

''The President has made use of executive powers at his disposal, knowing fully well the limits of these powers, and without undermining the constitutional separation of powers nor infringing upon the rights of citizens,'' he added.

Critics said Duterte incendiary comments against the head of a co-equal branch of government could trigger a constitutional crisis.

In her letter to Duterte a day after the judges were named, Sereno told Duterte that the judiciary was ''caught unprepared'' by his move.


Sereno stressed that the judiciary has administrative supervision over all courts, and that by being linked to the drug trade, the 7 judges were put in a vulnerable position.

To assert its jurisdiction over the judges, the SC asked the Palace on Tuesday to submit within seven days complaints for administrative proceedings against four out of seven judges in the president’s list.

The high court decided to treat Duterte's speech over the weekend as basis for complaints against these judges.

In a separate statement, Andanar sought to downplay fears of a constitutional crisis.

''The President is a member of the bar who believes in the rule of law and advocates for judicial independence. As President, he has the sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution. The words and action of the President all point to these,'' he said.

Duterte's bold moves in his anti-crime campaign has triggered concerns among critics that the leader is willing to put less premium to human rights and employ extralegal means in his quest to rid the country of illegal drugs.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Comelec’s Sarmiento: Judiciary needs a change agent like me

Commission on Elections commissioner Rene Sarmiento on Wednesday said he was the "agent of change" that the judiciary needs now.

In his interview by the Judicial and Bar Council, Sarmiento delivered an opening statement that centered on his plan to uphold social justice and human rights.

"Sa tingin ko, ako ay akma kapag pinag-uusapan natin ang pagbabago," Sarmiento told members of the JBC, which screens and vets nominees for vacant judicial posts.

The Comelec official vowed to create a special human rights court in response to the backlog of cases in the judiciary.

Sarmiento noted he envisions a judiciary that has "ethics, morality, loyalty to the rule of law, and an advocate of the common good.

"A chief justice is not only a visionary but also a leader," added Sarmiento who became a Comelec commissioner in 2006.

Sarmiento said he was open to amending the 1987 Constitution, including changes in its economic provisions, through a constituent assembly.

"In this era of globalization, dapat buksan," Sarmiento said when asked if he would support moves to allow the sale of lands to foreigners.

He is open to modifying mining laws "to bring investments provided [the industry is] properly regulated."

Sarmiento supports the move to revive measures against political dynasties in the Philippines.

The Comelec official is among two of the 20 aspirants to chief justice post, whose candidacy hangs in the balance because of pending criminal or administrative charges.

Commissioner Sarmiento’s case before the Office of the Ombudsman was an offshoot of the 2010 automated national elections. Maria Cristina Agustin and Nelson Selis of the Philippine Computer Society alleged the commissioner was involved in an anomalous transaction involving the sale of computers to the commission.

The JBC had said that Sarmiento and De Lima – the other official with a pending case against her in court – would be automatically disqualified if their respective cases remain unresolved when council takes a vote on July 30.

According to JBC rules, a person cannot vie for a judiciary position and in the Office of the Ombudsman if he or she:

has a pending criminal or regular administrative cases

has a pending criminal cases in foreign courts or tribunals

or has been convicted in any criminal case or administrative case in which the penalty is at least more than P10,000 in fines.

The exemption to the rule is if the person has received judicial clemency. — VS, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Chief justice post gets 3 more nominees from outside Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines -- Three outsiders have been nominated to replace ousted chief justice Renato Corona, according to a member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

The nominees are Katrina Legarda, Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza, and Ateneo De Manila College of Law Dean Cesar Villanueva, said JBC member Jose Mejia.

Automatically nominated to the post are the five most senior associate justices of the Supreme Court, namely, Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, and Diosdado Peralta.

Nominations for the next chief justice formally opened on June 6 and will end on June 18.

The JBC is the constitutional body tasked to screen nominees to vacant posts in the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman and then submit a shortlist to the President from which he will pick choices.

Aside from Mejia, other members of the JBC are Carpio as acting chair ex-officio; Senator Francis Escudero and Representative Niel Tupas Jr., representing the legislative branches; Justice Secretary Leila De Lima as an ex-officio member; lawyer Ma. Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr., representing retired justices; and Aurora Santiago-Lagman representing the private sector.

Carpio and De Lima, who is said to be a possible nominee along with Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares, had inhibited themselves from the JBC deliberations.

source: interaksyon.com