“The Supreme Court belongs to the people,” De Lima said in a statement three days after Aquino’s allies in Congress moved to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“And when the Arroyo justices start thinking that in protecting [former President Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo, they are shorn of any accountability, not even by impeachment, then it is time the people, through their representatives in Congress, impeach them. It is time the President and Congress reclaim the Court for the people,” De Lima said.
Thirteen members of the high tribunal, including Corona, were appointed by Arroyo. Corona and Associate Justice Mariano Del Castillo have separate impeachment cases.
Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr. said two more justices could also face impeachment complaints. He did not elaborate.
The unprecedented push to impeach Corona came after the Supreme Court made a series of decisions that Malacañang said hindered government efforts to prosecute Arroyo for alleged corruption.
“Some members of the Supreme Court may belong to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But the Supreme Court, the institution, the Supreme Court of the people, can never belong to Corona or to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” De Lima said.
Aside from Corona and Del Castillo, other justices appointed by Arroyo are Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad, Presbitero Velasco, Jose Mendoza, Jose Perez, Martin Villarama and Lucas Bersamin.
Meanwhile, the associate justices appointed by Aquino are Maria Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas Bernabe.
Aquino, who won presidential elections last year in a landslide, has never fully recognised Corona’s legitimacy as the Supreme Court chief justice.
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