By Perfecto T. Raymundo
MANILA, June 19 (PNA) — The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday clarified that the past connection of the husband of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. Aranal Sereno to the Consunji Corporation is not a ground to inhibit from the case of the Torre De Manila.
In a statement issued by the Supreme Court-Public Information Office (SC-PIO) on Friday, the SC confirmed that the husband of the Chief Justice, Mr. Mario Jose Sereno was formerly connected with the Dacon Corporation, which is owned by the Consunjis.
However, the SC said, Mr. Sereno had already resigned from the Dacon Corporation since July 1989 or 26 years ago.
The DMCI Homes, which is owned by the Consunjis, is the contractor of Torre De Manila.
SC-PIO Chief and Spokesman Atty. Theodore O. Te cited that under the SC Internal Rules, Rule 8, sec. 3(c), any mandatory inhibition arising from membership of a Justice with a law firm that acted as counsel ceases within a period of ten years unless the Justice personally handled the matter.
The SC issued the statement to dispell any further speculation on the capability of the Chief Justice to rule objectively on the case of Torre De Manila.
However, the SC noted that the so-called “voluntary inhibition” is a different matter because there are no guidelines for it and oftentimes, it is only based on the principle of “delicadeza”. (PNA)