BAYAN Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate said the Supreme Court's (SC) decision to deny the Makabayan bloc's plea to intervene in the quo warranto case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is unusual.
Zarate noted that in the past, the SC had allowed intervenors in important cases.
"In the past, the SC allows the participation of the public interest groups in cases of transcendental importance as this case," he said.
On April 3, the SC dismissed the motion for leave to file motion for intervention and opposition-in-intervention filed by Zarate along with members of the so-called Makabayan bloc.
The SC has also decided to hear on oral arguments the quo warranto petition against Sereno this April 10.
For Zarate, the SC's decision dis-empowers the Filipino people.
"In fact, as early as the filing of the quo warranto case, the solicitor general is trying to wrest from the people, through their representatives in Congress, to decide the case of the Chief Justice through an impeachment trial. This may worsen now that the SC denied the intervention in the quo warranto case," said Zarate. (SunStar Philippines)