IMPEACHMENT OF CHIEF

JUSTICE SERENO
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Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno (born Maria
Lourdes Punzalan Aranal; July 2, 1960) is
the 24th and current Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of the Philippines. At age
52, she became the second youngest person
and the first woman to head the judiciary.
In August 2010, she was appointed Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,
its 169th Member and the first appointee to the
High Court by President Benigno Aquino III.
Sereno is the youngest appointee to the
Supreme Court since Manuel Moran in 1945,
but she was surpassed by Marvic Leonen in
2012 at the age of 49, and the 13th woman
appointed as a Supreme Court Justice.
On 24 August 2012, President Aquino
announced his appointment of Justice Sereno
as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,
replacing Renato Corona, who was removed from office in May 2012 after being convicted in
an impeachment trial.
She is set to retire in 2030, after 20 years in office (18 years as Chief Justice), pursuant to
the requirements of Article VIII, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution.
Background
Sereno was born on July 2, 1960 in Manila to a Margarito Aranal, a native of Siasi, Sulu and
Soledad Punzalan, who served as a public school teacher. She is married to Mario Jose E.
Sereno of Davao City. They have two children, Maria Sophia and Jose Lorenzo.
Education

Sereno graduated Class salutatorian from Kamuning Elementary School in 1972 and
graduated with Honors from Quezon City High School in 1976.
She earned a bachelor's degree in economics at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1980,
and her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines College of
Law at Diliman, graduating as class valedictorian in 1984.
She also earned a Master of Laws from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993.
Chief Justice Sereno is also an alumna of the UP Portia Sorority.
Career
Sereno started her career as a junior associate of the Sycip Salazar Feliciano and Hernandez
law firm.
At the age of 38, she was appointed as legal counselor at the World Trade
Organizations Appellate Body Secretariat in Geneva.
She was the only female member of the 1999 Preparatory Commission on Constitutional
Reform where she headed the commissions Steering Committee. In the same year, with
Justice Jose Campos, Commissioner Haydee Yorac, and other professors from the UP
College of Law, she co-founded Accesslaw, a corporation that provided the first annotated
electronic research system in Philippine law.
She also served as legal counsel for various government offices including the Office of the
President, Office of the Solicitor General, Manila International Airport Authority, and
the Department of Trade and Industry. She previously headed the Information and Public
Division office of the UP Law Complex. She was also a faculty member at The Hague
Academy of International Law in Cambodia.
At the time of her appointment, Sereno was Executive Director of the Asian Institute of
Management Policy Center. She was also the President of Accesslaw Inc., had taught
at University of the Philippines College of Law for 19 years, and has served as a consultant
for the United Nations, World Bank, and US Agency for International Development.
Sereno served as a co-counsel with Justice Florentino Feliciano on the Fraport case
in Singapore in which the Republic of the Philippines won the case.

Sereno Impeachment Complaint

Respected opposition congressmen Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman
protest the impeachment complaint by Atty. Lorenzo Gadon against Chief Justice Ma.
Lourdes Sereno.

Below is a summary of Gadons charges cross-referencing the evidence cited, to allow you
to judge the complaint for yourself.

Tax/SALN evasion
Sereno earned US$745,000 from the government as legal fees for the PIATCO case. This
amount was not reported in her SALN or to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. (Source: Ninez
Cacho-Olivares opinion column in Daily Tribune)
Further, Sereno used public funds to finance her extravagant and lavish lifestyle by having
the SC purchase a 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser worth PHP5 million. She ordered its bullet-
proofing but withdrew when news of her impending impeachment broke out. (Source:
none)
She travels with her coterie of security and two motorcycle escorts. She insists on flying
herself, her security and her clique of relatively new hired lawyers on business class for
domestic and international travel, and gives herself and her staff travel allowances from SC
funds. (Source: none)
She stayed in the Presidential Villa of Shangri-la Boracay during a 2016 conference,
allegedly worth PHP200,000 a night. She holds meetings in 5-star hotels and clubs.

Blocking Jardeleza
As JBC Chair, Gadon accused, Sereno persistently manipulates judicial appointments for
personal and political reasons and transformed the JBC into a mafia-like organization. A
2015 Manila Times article accused her of pushing her Umbrella Boy as Sandiganbayan
Justice and Gadon claims (with no source cited) she includes her neophyte lawyers in
shortlists for Metro Manila regional trial court judges.
She accused now Justice Francis Jardeleza of lack of integrity, violating due process by not
giving him a chance to respond to her allegations, and had him removed from the short list
by invoking a rule requiring a unanimous JBC vote for allegations on integrity. (Source: SC
decision)
Justice Arturo Brion wrote, in his concurring opinion in the SC decision Jardeleza v.
Sereno (2014), that: CJ Sereno manipulated the JBC process to exclude Jardeleza as a
nominee. Brion accused Sereno of character assassination in the guise of a Supplemental
Coment and timed this comment at a stage of the case when Jardeleza would have no
opportunity to refute it. (Source: Justice Brions opinion in SC decision)
Jardeleza publicly narrated his near death experience with Sereno in his Commencement
Address before the UP Law Class of 2015.

Manipulating JBC
Further, Sereno arbitrarily had the JBC submit nominees for six Sandiganbayan Justice
positions in 2015 in six groups or clusters. This forced the President to choose an
appointee from the cluster for that vacancy, instead of allowing him to choose from all
nominees submitted by the JBC. This allegedly favored nominees from Serenos staff,
among others, by clustering them with weaker candidates.
The SC decision Aguinaldo v. Aquino (2016) invalidated this as utterly without legal basis
and in contravention of the Presidents appointing power and appears to have been done
arbitrarily. (Source: SC decision)
The Aguinaldo decision also criticized other rules changes: There appears to be a
systematic move by the JBC, under Chief Justice Sereno, to arrogate to itself more power
and influence than it is actually granted by the Constitution and this Court, and at the same
time, to ease out the Court from any legitimate participation in the noination process for
vacancies in the Judiciary, specifically in the Supreme Court. (Source: SC decision)
Further, Brions opinion in the Jardeleza decision accused Sereno of claiming several
Justices wanted to do away with other justices giving input on SC nominees to the JBC,
but, When subsequently confronted failed to name anyone. (Source: Justice Brions
opinion in SC decision)

Blocking de Lima arrest

Sereno had a SC official call the Muntinlupa judges handling de Limas 2017 cases and order
them not to issue warrants of arrest considering she is a senator. (Source: none)
Sereno ordered Court of Appeals Justices to ignore and defy, in Gadons terms, the House
show cause order on the Ilocos six. The case could have been elevated to the SC and
other justices denied consenting to the order. (Source: Delon Porcalla, Edu Punay, Jess
Diaz, Philippine Star)
Sereno gave a strongly worded speech against martial law and the Marcos regime at the
2017 Ateneo de Manila graduation, warning that the possibility of history repeating itself
looms imminent. She then joined deliberations on and voted against martial
law. (Source: Inquirer copy of speech)

Falsifying orders
Sereno had the SC issue Resolution A.M. No. 12-11-9-SC (Nov. 9, 2012), which ratified her
reviving the Regional Court Administration Office in Region 7. Justice Teresita Leonardo-De
Castro later protested that a majority of justices had opposed this. (Source: Tetch
Torres, Inquirer; Jomar Canlas, Manila Times)
Sereno deliberately tampered with and altered, and expanded the scope of, a draft
temporary restraining order recommended by De Castro in 2013. This TRO was for the
Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens against the Commission on Elections.
(Source: Manila Times)

Delayed pensions
Sereno shelved pensions of retired justices and justices and surviving spouses. These
include 30 petitions by spouses at least 80 years old, all pending for at least two years.
(Source: none)
Sereno has left four senior SC staff positions vacant since 2013, allegedly waiting for her
staff to qualify. She also appointed the Chief of the Philippine Mediation Center in 2016
without the SCs authority.
Delayed Maute transfer
The justices informally agreed to transfer Maute cases to Taguig. Sereno preferred these be
heard in Cagayan de Oro. She delayed the transfer by stating she was drafting the transfer
resolution for Taguig. Although dated June 27, 2017, the Resolution was only released on
July 20, 2017, after news of her impending impeachment broke out. (Source: none)

Lack of bidding
Sereno hired a SC ICT consultant for PHP250,000 a month in 2013 without public bidding.

Falsifying CV
Sereno stated in her Personal Data Sheet for the SC that she was a Deputy Commissioner
of the Commission on Human Rights when there is no such position. (Source: none)
She also stated she was a lecturer at the Hague Academy of International Law but this is
false. (Source: Ninez Cacho-Olivares opinion column in Daily Tribune)

Reaction
Chief Justice Sereno was appointed by Pres. Benigno Aquino. I really dont know if
we should impeach Chief Justice Sereno or not. She can be impeach maybe because she is
not deserving in her position. She dont have enough experience to handle every situation.
Shes not good in solving cases. And she has many complaints about her wrongdoings. But
also she cannot be impeached because she can have another chance proving herself that
she deserve her position. And she can also correct all her mistakes by learning from it.

Whatever the results of proceedings as long as it is for the best of our country. Be
with it. They should choose a knowledgeable, fair, and brave Chief Justice. And lastly, a
Chief Justice that will do his/her duty with honour and integrity.