The president hits the chief justice by giving her a lecture on the judicial process.
President Rodrigo Duterte slammed Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, still regarding the president’s ‘narco-list’ which incriminated seven municipal and regional trial court judges, four of them are still in active service.
On Sereno’s letter sent to the Office of the President, through Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II, the chief magistrate said that the authorities must present first a warrant of arrest before they can surrender the judges who are allegedly part and parcel of the widespread problem on illegal drugs in the country.
As an answer, Pres. Duterte clarified that he did not order the arrest of the judges and other officials who are linked in narco-politics.
The enraged Duterte said that he told the named judges to report at the Supreme Court and not to the police. He clarified that the order to report to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa was addressed to the policemen.
The president lectured the chief justice regarding the bottleneck in the process before securing a warrant of arrest, saying he is not new to the process because he was once a prosecutor.
He said that while Sereno is expressing her concerns, there is slaughter going on in the streets.
He further said that what he is doing right now is a part of his job as a president. He appealed that the chief justice should not threaten him of the possible occurrence of constitutional crisis because he is just doing his job.
Duterte added that Sereno must have known the law and must be “seasoned” because she has been a lawyer before becoming the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
“Madam chief justice you must be joking,” said Duterte. “There was slaughter going on.”, he added.
Duterte issued his statement during his visit to the 4th Infantry Division, Philippine Amry headquarters at Camp Evangelista in Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro City.