The Chief Justice sent a letter to the president.
Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno sent a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte as an answer to his baring and shaming of politicians, judges, soldiers and police who are allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade in the country.
SC spokesman Atty. Theodore Te said, included in Sereno’s letter is her expression of “concerns” on the president’s public declaration where he named seven judges who are allegedly ‘in to the trade’.
In the four-page letter of Sereno, she said that she is worried that the naming will affect how the judges would carrry out their adjudicative role. She fears that it will create a problem in the schedule of hearings and conferences on the cases on the bench of the linked judges.
She also called Duterte’s pronouncement as ‘premature’ because his so-called narco-list was only based on informal investigations only.
She suggested the the court will be given the chance to seek preventive measure before the premature public announcement.
In the end, Sereno warned the judges not to surrender to the police if there are no warrants of arrest to protect themselves.
Named were: Judge Lorinda Mopas of Dasmariñas, Cavite; Judge Reyes of Baguio City; Judge Savillo of RTC Branch 13, Iloilo City; Judge Casiple of Kalibo, Aklan; Judge Rene Gonzales of an MTC; Judge Exekel Dagala of an MTC; and Judge Dapa of Siargao.
The letter was coursed through Department of Justice (DOJ) Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II.
For now, there is no availabe copy of the letter, pending clearance from the president and the chief justice.
One of the named judges is from Calbayog City but was already laid into rest in 2008.
Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno (born Maria Lourdes Punzalan Aranal on July 2, 1960) is the 24th Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of the Philippines. At age 52, she became the second youngest and the first female to head the judiciary.
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 the 1987 Constitution.