Embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno vowed that she would not resign, rejecting to calls by judges, court lawyers and employees for her to make the “supreme sacrifice”, The Manila Times Online reported on Tuesday (March 13).
“I will not resign….resigning from my post as the chief justice will embolden those who demand a subservient judiciary,” she said at a gathering of white-clad supporters at the Ballay Kalinaw of the University of the Philippines Diliman on Monday morning.
She told her supporters that her love for the judiciary compelled her to stay on.
“While the call to resign appeals to my love for the judiciary, it is also out of my love for (it) that I will continue my course,” she said as she vowed to fight her accusers before the impeachment trial.
Her supporters – about 100 strong – who are mostly members of the multi-sector group Coalition for Justice, read a statement urging her to continue fighting for judicial independence.
The statement calling for Sereno’s resignation was signed by the Philippine Judges Association President and Marikina Regional Trial Court judge Felix Reyes, officials of the Supreme Court Assembly of Lawyer Employees, the Philippine Association of Court Employees and the Sandiganbayan Employees Association.
Last week, the justice committee of the House of Representatives found probable cause to impeach Sereno, voting 38-2.
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