A petition has been filed requesting the Supreme Court (SC) to force Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno to submit missing requirements in her appointment as top magistrate.

Atty. Romeo B. Igot on Friday, March 16, submitted a mandamus and/or prohibition petition that asked Ms. Sereno “to submit her SALNs (Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth) covering the missing years 2003 to 2005 and 2007 to 2008 as well as to show evidence that she indeed passed the psychological examination administered on her.”

The petition said that should Ms. Sereno fail to do the above mentioned, she should “be prohibited from further assuming her functions as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and to declare her appointment as Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court null and void.”

Ms. Sereno — who is currently taking her indefinite leave — faces impeachment for alleged graft and corruption.

She is also facing a quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose C. Calida that argues her appointment was void for not being able to submit her SALNs.

Mr. Igot, however, claimed his petition — which uses the same arguments as Mr. Calida’s quo warranto — “is the fastest way to remove the Chief Justice.”

According to the English Oxford Dictionary, a mandamus is “a judicial writ issued as a command to an inferior court or ordering a person to perform a public or statutory duty,” while a prohibition is ” a writ from a superior court forbidding an inferior court from proceeding in a suit deemed to be beyond its cognizance.” — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

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