MANILA, Philippines — Solicitor General Jose Calida on Friday said that the opposition lawmakers’ impeachment complaint against the seven justices who granted the quo warranto petition “will not see the light of the day.”
In a statement, Calida stressed the justices were “merely performing their Constitutional duty” when they voted on his quo warranto petition against former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
“The Supreme Court, through its Justices, has the solemn duty of being the final arbiter of constitutional issues and the interpreter of the words of the fundamental law,” the solicitor general said.
“[I]n doing so, it cannot be said that they committed culpable violation of the Constitution,” he added.
Opposition lawmakers led by Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay) filed an impeachment complaint against Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo.
The complaint cited their vote on the landmark ruling on the quo warranto petition. Lagman said that the justices committed culpable violation of Constitution and betrayal of public trust when they voted to grant Calida’s ouster plea.
But Calida said that following the logic used by the lawmakers, then all justices who voted for, and against, the petition can be impeached.
The government’s chief legal counsel also reminded the lawmakers that they should have come to terms with the landmark ruling as “by constitutional design, this is how our government should work.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that she wants to expedite the processing of the impeachment complaint against the justices “so that it does not really disturb the legislative agenda.”
Chief justice search
Despite the impeachment complaint, the Judicial and Bar Council included De Castro, Peralta and Bersamin in the shortlist for the chief justice post.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, in a message to reporters, explained that the mere filing of the complaint is not enough to disqualify them—as the lawmakers said.
“It is not yet considered an impeachment case, until it is affirmatively acted upon by the appropriate House committee,” the Justice chief, an ex-officio member of the JBC, added.
The Office of the Executive Secretary has received the JBC’s shortlist on Friday, 2:00 p.m.
President Rodrigo Duterte has until September 16 to fill the vacancy at the Office of the Chief Justice.