In a 77-page comment, the Chief Justice, through her lawyers led by Atty. “The Chief Justice deserves her day in court before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Tribunal,” read the comment. “To rule otherwise, and to preempt the impeachment process by summarily ousting the Chief Justice via quo warranto, would be tantamount to overthrowing the Constitution itself,” she added. Sereno also said the quo warranto petition should not be entertained at all for being “time-barred.”Under Section 11, Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, a petition for quo warranto must be filed within one year from the “cause of ouster.”“There is no authority to commence a quo warranto proceeding more than four years after the expiration of the one-year statute of limitations,” she said. ADVERTISEMENTSereno was appointed Chief Justice in 2012 or six years before the quo warranto petition was filed.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 19, 2018 08:36 UTC