Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno reported back for work on Wednesday, two days before Supreme Court justices vote on the quo warranto case filed against her by the Solicitor General.
Sereno informed acting chief justice Antonio Carpio that she was going back to work yesterday, sources said.
The Supreme Court (SC) en banc had forced her to go on an indefinite leave of absence over a month ago.
“The Chief Justice will resume performing her constitutional mandate and discharge her responsibilities as head of the judiciary. Her return to her office is in full consonance with our Constitution,” Sereno’s lawyer Carlo Cruz told reporters.
The Supreme Court is set to rule on Friday, May 11 on the quo warranto case filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida.
The SC source said Sereno wanted to “cling to her office,” thus her announcement that she was back.
During the February 27 SC en banc, The Manila Times sources in the SC said some of the justices asked for her resignation for loss of confidence in her leadership.
The SC Justices later forced her to take an indefinite leave of absence, which started on March 1,2018.
Only the justices can lift such leave before it shall have been served.
“The Chief Justice is primus inter pares, or first among equals. That means, while she is first, she is just one of the 15 [SC justices]. The SC is a collegial body. No one justice, not even the Chief Justice, can prevail over the majority,” the sources pointed out.
Unimpeachable sources said majority of the justices will likely grant Calida’s petition and oust her from her post.
The sources said 8 to 11 justices will concur with the draft ponencia of Associate Justice Noel Tijam, who had circulated the draft of his resolution recommending the removal of Sereno.
Sources said Tijam believes that Sereno has no legal right to stay as chief justice because her appointment was void from the start.
Sereno is also facing an impeachment case for alleged non-filing of her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth or SALN.