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Nora Soriño .

ILIGAN City — From out of the blue, Solicitor General Jose Calida snatched a lethal weapon. I don’t mean the movie starring Mel Gibson, but a weapon with which to slay the dragon in his eyes that is Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. It’s a weapon called “quo warranto.”

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Now it occurred to this writer that this is synonymous with “quo vadis” — meaning, “Where are you going?” As in “Where are you going with this?” Can you slay a dragon with this weapon called “quo warranto”?

“Quo warranto,” as we understand it, is the process in which someone petitions the Supreme Court to determine the validity of an appointment, and to assert that such appointment was wrong because of this and that reason. In the case of Sereno, Calido points out “defects” at the time of her application and appointment like her alleged failure to submit her Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (Saln). The SC en banc will decide whether the appointment is a valid one, and thus, oust her as CJ.

But some legal minds say the quo warranto is “foul.” Sereno then took this as a “hesitation” on their part, well, “slayers,” and that their primary weapon to have her out of the picture via the impeachment court is weak. So, this “quo warranto” sprang from desperation. And this, I think, gives Sereno more resolve to fight it out.

Now, a quote in jest says of women: “Women have one advantage over men. If they cannot play it smart, they play it dumb.”

Sereno is not playing it smart. Or dumb. She is just playing herself in this  unfolding drama involving her.

So, in this season of the International Women’s celebration, I’d vote for her as the “Woman of the Year.”

I’m no fan of Sereno. But neither do I dislike her. And as I watch her from a distance, I see that she has grit in the face of all the ah, “gangings up” on her where many “gangers” are men, mostly. She has stood her ground. With the numbers against her growing, she has become an underdog. Somewhat.

That’s it, Sereno has become an “underdog.” Some people go for underdogs. Maybe this writer is one of them.

She has opt to take a leave though. A “wellness leave” at first. It then turned out to be an “indefinite leave” but not an “amnesia leave” because she will always remember not to forget that she is still CJ, unless fate would be unkind to her in that impeachment proceedings looming over her like the proverbial Sword of Damocles.

Her leave is in order to prepare for that. Meanwhile, she is being, oh, demonized by many. It seems now that she is between the devil and more devils.

Yet she is seen with her pretty face smiling through all that. She is going to fight tooth and nail, she tells everyone in every opportunity. They say that when the going gets tough, only the tough gets going. And Sereno is still going.

We don’t know if it helped that results of her mental tests were made public that she is “morag dili buang” — I mean, “morag buang.”

Methinks that’s no big deal. All of us have moments of “morag dili buang.”

Among her various “sins” is the matter of Salns, like I said, which had a thumbs down effect on then then CJ Renato Corona who himself was impeached during PNoy’s time. But those were proceedings in another life, in another time.

Also, there were stories then between the impeachment court judges called senators of alleged transactions between PNoy and the judges which might or might not be true.

So, Madame CJ, atta girl, be strong for yourself, your family, for creatures called women. There’s talk now of the “judges” selecting their robes in this coming circus called impeachment trial.

Sereno is fighting it out though, like she said. And if President Duterte has his “build, build, build” mantra, Sereno can have “fight, fight, fight” as game plan and mantra. “Önly the event will teach us in its hour.”

Need I say more why she is my choice for “Woman of the Year?”

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