University President Releases Statement on Quo Warranto
14 April 2018
Memo to : The University Community
Subject : Quo Warranto
For some months now, we have witnessed how several forces have sought to unseat the Chief Justice, Maria Lourdes Sereno. The Constitution categorically provides that the Chief Justice, the head of the Judiciary, a co-equal branch of government, can only be removed through impeachment, which is a power entrusted to Congress in accordance with the principle of separation of powers and the wisdom of ensuring checks and balances in government. Let us allow the impeachment to unfold, to guarantee the impeachable officer due process of fundamental law. The Chief Justice herself recognizes the propriety of the impeachment process and her responsibility to answer the charges raised against her. We all stand to benefit from allowing the impeachment to proceed because it will show us the primary importance of the law and teach all who wield power that no one is above the law.
The present Quo Warranto petition initiated by the Solicitor General to void Sereno's appointment as Chief Justice is based on the allegation that she failed to submit the required number of Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth. Resorting to such a petition to remove the Chief Justice circumvents the clear dictates of the Constitution. It should alarm us when several justices who will decide on whether the Chief Justice has sufficiently complied with the requirement are among those who have accused her of wrongdoing in that regard, during hearings conducted by Congress, thus effectively prejudging the matter. How will justice and fairness now prevail?
The University expresses its dismay and disappointment at how vicious and malicious the search for accountability has become. It cannot not speak. We ask the justices of the Supreme Court to pause and discern carefully the damage their actions have inflicted on themselves and on the whole of our democratic society. We ask them to let the right process take us to the truth. At this point, the legal and proper process is impeachment and not Quo Warranto. We thus categorically call on the Supreme Court to dismiss the Quo Warranto petition filed against the Chief Justice.
The spirit of democracy depends crucially not only on the independence of each branch of government and the ability of each branch to be co-equal to and vanguards of one another, but also on the integrity of each. As the nation’s highest court, the Supreme Court’s main focus should always be to keep the freedoms of each person inviolable and sacred. To do so requires that the Supreme Court justices remain impartial as Lady Justice is blind to the forces of wealth or power. To do so requires our justices to be faithful only to the law. Justices wear black robes to signify the seriousness and gravity of their task, to remind anyone who makes an appearance at any sala that the judge or justice present sits for Justice, and never for the individual self or some patron. When this very fundamental belief or practice is threatened, it puts an entire nation at risk.
When we promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, we ask God to help us. May God help our people and our democracy. May God help the justices of our Supreme Court.
Jose Ramon T Villarin SJ
President
