Philippines’ top judge latest in firing line of ‘Duterte Harry’

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has been accused of corruption in a case that echoes the previous jailing of Senator Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of Duterte who has been hailed a human rights hero by international media and commentators. 
Like de Lima, Sereno has warned that justice and the separation of powers are being overridden by Duterte and his anti-crime crusade, which has seen hundreds murdered by police and vigilantes every month since he took office in June last year.
Duterte has responded by accusing Sereno of corruption, triggering a push to oust her by Duterte loyalists in the House of Representatives. 
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez – a member of Duterte’s ruling party – declared on Thursday there was probable cause to impeach Sereno, jumping the gun on a matter that is still being deliberated upon by the House committee on justice.
Responding yesterday, Sereno’s team said: “The statement of Speaker Alvarez only validates his strong desire to have the Chief Justice ousted. 
“There is no letup in his attacks – verbal and personal – against Chief Justice Sereno,” said Sereno’s spokesperson Aldwin Salumbides.
The chief justice’s legal team 
said that even before the House 
panel tackled the impeachment 
complaint, the House leadership was already bent on pursuing Sereno’s removal from office.
“For the Speaker to say at this point that there’s ‘probable cause’ to impeach our Chief Justice, is a little bit ‘late’,” he added.
Salumbides, a lawyer, maintained that since the start of the impeachment hearings at the House of Representatives no evidence presented had shown that Sereno committed any offence.
“As far as her legal team is concerned, no single piece of evidence – either documentary or testimonial – has been presented to prove that an offence was committed; no incident will warrant her removal from office,” he said.
Sereno’s camp also downplayed the testimonies of Supreme Court officials, including that of Associate Justice Teresita de Castro, saying these only showed that some allegations were merely based on differences in their opinion.
“The testimonies of Justice Teresita De Castro and other magistrates reveal nothing but differences in opinion with respect to internal administrative processes of the Supreme Court,” Salumbides said.
“Different views do not imply any willful intention to violate the Constitution or our laws. Those are supposed to be addressed by internal measures and not by an extreme resort to impeachment,” Salumbides stressed.
Aside from De Castro, four more Supreme Court judges – Associate Justices Noel Tijam, Francis Jardeleza, and Samuel Martires, and retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion – expressed their willingness to appear and testify before the House justice committee on Monday.