Solicitor General Jose Calida unwittingly torpedoed his attempt to oust Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by admitting that she had indeed filed statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) when she was still a law professor, one of the top magistrate’s spokespersons on Saturday said. ADVERTISEMENTNonetheless, she said the Calida’s admission should now prompt the high court to toss out his quo warranto petition against Sereno. “Calida’s… petition was based on his claim that since Sereno did not file [her] SALNs, she failed to meet the constitutional requirement of proven integrity,” Deinla said. The recovery of most of the SALNs destroys (his) main argument that the Chief Justice should be removed from office,” she added. On Friday, Calida called Sereno a “liar” after Jojo Lacanilao, a member of her legal team, disclosed that they had retrieved copies of the SALNs which the Chief Justice had filed more than two decades ago.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 14, 2018 11:37 UTC