MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno challenged the House of Representatives on Friday, March 2, to submit the impeachment case against her to the Senate for trial “or admit that there is no probable cause.”
In a televised speech to law students at the University of Baguio a day after she went on indefinite leave, Sereno said the “proponents of impeachment have bared their uncertainties” by claiming solid evidence against her “but at the same time calling for my resignation.”
“If they were so sure of their evidence … why not bring it to the Senate?” she said.
“I ask for only one thing from our political leaders. Only one thing,” Sereno, who is accused of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, and other high crimes by lawyer Larry Gadon, said. “Give me my day in the Senate impeachment court or admit that there is no probable cause.”
She also reiterated “what I have been consistently saying to those who have asked me to resign: No, I will not.”
“I do not owe anyone the duty to resign,” she said. “I owe th people the duty to tell my story.”
