Lagman: 8 SC justices deserve to be impeached for betraying public trust

Albay first-district Rep. Edcel Lagman joined the call of his ally, Akbayan partylist Rep. Tom Villarin, to impeach the eight Supreme Court magistrates to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto action.

“The immutable rule is that injustice does not pay. If magistrates who are sworn to uphold the Constitution, subvert the very fundamental law by arrogating jurisdiction over an impeachable official, perforce they deserve to be impeached,” he said in a statement.

The Magnificent 7 leader insisted that impeachment, “not a flawed quo warranto petition,” must be the appropriate sanction against the eight grievously errant justices who ousted Sereno.

“They are liable for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, among other impeachable offenses,” Lagman said.

The eight justices who voted to disqualify Sereno’s appointment last May 11 were Associate Justices Teresita De Castro, Francis Jardeleza, Alexander Gesmundo, Diosdado Peralta, Noel Tijam, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr., and Lucas Bersamin.

The Supreme Court voted 8-6 in granting the quo warranto petition, which sought to disqualify Sereno from her office due to her alleged failure to file her SALNs during her tenure as a University of the Philippines law professor, among others.

“The Constitution unequivocally mandates that it is only by impeachment instituted by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate can an impeachable official be removed from office,” said Lagman.

“No other procedure is allowed, certainly not an aberration of a quo warranto action,” he added.