CHIEF Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno was knocked out by the Supreme Court en banc on Tuesday after it revoked her fraudulent resolution dated November 27, on the reopening of the Regional Court Administration Office in Cebu City.

However, the High Court did not reprimand or impose any penalty on Sereno for issuing an illegal resolution, which earlier made some of the justices furious.

The resolution, exposed by The Manila Times on December 3, purported to show that the reopening of the regional court office was ratified by the High Court en banc. It turned out that the ratification was false and that the reopening of the administrative court was without authority from the justices.

According to a well-placed source of The Manila Times, the justices of the high court confronted and ganged up on Sereno during Tuesday’s en banc for acting without authority from the other justices.

Like a cornered boxer, Sereno could not fight back when confronted by the irate justices.

Meek as a lamb, Sereno gave the lame excuse that she thought that it was approved by the Court en banc, so she went ahead with the reopening of the regional court, The Times source said.

The Court en banc reached a consensus to revoke Sereno’s acts in reviving the regional court and appointing Judge Geraldine Faith Econg as the officer-in-charge of the new office in Visayas.

Sereno, however, tried to save face and tone down the humiliating “knockdown” she suffered from the Court en banc by ordering the High Court’s Public Information Office to issue a statement making it appear that the justices were one with her for the creation of the court office in Cebu.

The statement did not include the revocation of her “fraudulent” resolution for the creation of the regional court by the High Court en banc. It merely focused on the appointment of Justice Jose Portugal Perez to lead the study group for the possible revival of the administrative court.

“The chief justice presided over today’s en banc session. Upon her instructions, the agenda included the decentralization of the Court’s administrative functions with respect to the lower courts, in order to include all inputs. The members of the Court are of one mind on the merits of decentralization, and have agreed on measures to ensure its effective and deliberate implementation, including the creation of a committee headed by Associate Justice Jose Portugal Perez to conduct a needs assessment of decentralization. Justice Perez was formerly a Court Administrator before he joined the High Tribunal,” the statement read.

The revocation of her November 27 resolution would be the “Christmas gift” of the justices to Sereno, who will be leaving for Washington on Wednesday to make a courtesy call on the chief justice of the United States.

Hard to believe
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a trial court judge for many years, said that she found it hard to believe that Sereno would come out with a resolution that was not approved by her peers.

“I find it hard to believe that the chief justice, with a staff of her own including presumably veteran bureaucrats in the Supreme Court, would not take it on herself or would not feel that it is incumbent on her to find out whether she had a unilateral duty or she had a duty to first bring it [resolution] up with her colleagues,” Santiago said.

The senator added that it was “unfortunate” that the issue was exposed to the public because it could affect the image of the country’s highest tribunal.

WITH A REPORT FROM JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA