The Latest: Philippine opposition calls judge ouster mockery

A Philippine opposition leader says the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is a mockery of the constitution.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan also says Congress should insist on its exclusive constitutional role to remove key officials like her through impeachment.

Pangilinan, who heads the opposition Liberal Party, says "what the majority in the Supreme Court did was a mockery of the constitution." He says "the people should express to the court that the decision was wrong and unacceptable." He also says Sereno should appeal.

Aside from a government petition to declare Sereno ineligible to lead the Supreme Court over her alleged failure to declare her wealth before she became chief justice, she also faced an impeachment complaint in the House of Representatives. She says she was ready to defend herself if the impeachment case reached the Senate for trial.

But the impeachment process has now been pre-empted by the unprecedented vote Friday to remove her from the Supreme Court, sparking legal confusion over what would happen to the votes she cast on cases in the years she led the country's highest court.

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1:15 p.m.

Ousted Philippine Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has emerged from the Supreme Court after her colleagues voted to remove her and is asking hundreds of protesting supporters to organize a movement to defend justice and accountability.

Sereno told the crowd: "Let's continue to defend the constitution and fight wrongdoing. Let's continue to spread the message of democracy and reason."

She says the justices who voted to boot her out of the 15-member tribunal seized "the sole responsibility of the Senate, brazenly violated their sworn responsibility to protect the constitution and destroyed the judiciary."

Sereno has been at loggerheads with President Rodrigo Duterte and has urged Filipinos to stand up to his authoritarian rule. She has been speaking up for the respect of law and human rights, irking Duterte at a time he has led a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead.

The former law professor at the state-run University of the Philippines says the government petition that her fellow justices approved violated the constitution, which provides that top officials like her can only be removed by impeachment.

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12:05 p.m.

The Philippine Supreme Court spokesman says Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno has been ousted in a vote by fellow judges acting on a government petition, which sought her removal in a move she calls unconstitutional.

Court spokesman Theodore Te says eight of 14 justices voted Friday to remove Sereno from the 15-member tribunal for allegedly failing to file statements of assets and liabilities as required by law. Sereno denies the allegation and did not participate in the vote.

Wholesale MLB Jerseys MLB Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys Cheap MLB Shop Cheap Baseball Jerseys China MLB Jerseys Custom Hundreds of protesters denouncing Sereno's ouster rallied outside the court.

Sereno has been at loggerheads with President Rodrigo Duterte and has urged Filipinos to stand up to his authoritarian rule. She also has been speaking up for the respect of law and human rights, irking Duterte at a time he has led a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead.