House Speaker says impeachment will be done when session resumes

MANILA, Philippines — A political analyst on Monday said that he was not surprised by President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive for the ally-dominated House to fast-track the impeachment case of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, saying this is part of an effort to eliminate perceived opposition and consolidate power.

Dennis Coronacion, chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Santo Tomas, said that the president seems bent on reducing the Supreme Court's justices to being his "minions," a relationship reminiscent of that between the Palace and the Supreme Court during the Marcos years.

"President Duterte is bent on enforcing the pattern of relations that has characterized the relations between Malacanang and the Supreme Court since the Marcos authoritarian regime, one in which our honorable Supreme Court justices are reduced to the president's minions," Coronacion told Philstar.com.

RELATED: Duterte tells Sereno: I am now your enemy

A fuming Duterte ordered his allies at the House of Representatives on Monday to hasten the impeachment of Sereno — actually already waiting to be voted on by the House in plenary — after she challenged the chief executive in a separate forum to explain why Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a case questioning her legal hold on office despite his repeated denial of his involvement in moves to oust her.

The solicitor general is the government's top lawyer and Calida is a known supporter of Duterte, who appointed him to the position.

'Bad for the country'

Duterte, speaking before he left for China to attend a forum, blasted the chief justice as “bad” for the country and urged his allies to remove her from the Supreme Court.

"I am asking the Congress, what’s taking you too long? Do not create any crisis in this country. I will not hesitate to do what is to the best interest of my country. If it calls for your forced removal, I will do it," the president said.

Coronacion said Duterte is consolidating his power by removing perceived opponents from government. This includes Sereno, who was appointed to office by Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III. Sereno has also voted against Duterte policy decisions like allowing the burial of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos' remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the extension of martial law in Mindanao.

“President Duterte’s pronouncement does not surprise me at all,” Coronacion said.

“The president has been consolidating his power by removing the opponents of his government, particularly those holding key positions,” he said.

Coronacio said that although Duterte had not openly admitted that he was behind moves to orchestrate Sereno allies at the House and the Supreme Court appeared to be doing the job for him.

He said that Duterte’s allies were using the same strategy of threat and intimidation they used to pressure Commission on Human Rights Chair Chito Gascon and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

House Speaker: It will be done

Meanwhile Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said that they would fast-track Sereno’s impeachment when Congress resumes its sessions in May.

“It will be done once we resume sessions,” Alvarez said in a text message to Philstar.com.

Alvarez and House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas both express their preference to wait for the result of the quo warranto petition filed by Calida before the High Court before submitting the articles of impeachment to the plenary for a vote.

It took the House justice panel more than a dozen of hearings to determine if the complaint filed by Gadon had legal bases.

The panel voted that the complaint had probable cause and sent the articles of impeachment to the House committee on rules.

Duterte in the past reiterated that he was not behind the moves to oust Sereno, who was critical of the chief executive’s war on drugs especially when several judges were implicated in the drug trade.

However, Gadon is a lawyer who has close political ties to allies of the president and was recently seen in a photograph to be in an event with the Philippine leader.

Gadon explained that he was just thanking the president for a project in his province and explicitly denied that Duterte was behind the push to remove Sereno.

Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, however has called on Sereno to step down from office to spare the judiciary from another impeachment trial, which the chief magistrate rejected.