MANILA- A lawyer and loyal Marcos supporter has asked the Supreme Court to void the appointment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Lawyer Oliver Lozano on Friday asked the High Court to invalidate Sereno's appointment, saying the top magistrate failed to comply with mandatory legal requirements.

Atty. Oliver Lozano asks SC to void CJ Sereno appointment pic.twitter.com/hRFRpEeZMk

— Ina Reformina (@InaReformina) March 2, 2018

• Alvarez: Supreme Court may oust Sereno if her appointment is invalid

Lozano added that the impeachment complaint against Sereno has also caused a "divisive, disastrous, and internationally ignominious controversy."

"The protracted and scandalous controversy over the validity of Chief Justice Sereno's appointment, and impeachment against her have caused deep division and dissension in the Bench and Bar," he said in the petition.

Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, the impeachment complainant against Sereno, had earlier said the Chief Justice's appointment may be deemed fraudulent for failure to comply with requirements for the position.

• Gadon wants SC to invalidate Sereno's appointment

Former President Benigno Aquino III appointed Sereno to the high court post in 2012 following the ouster of the late chief magistrate Renato Corona, who was removed for undeclared wealth.

Then 52, Sereno was expected to stay in her post until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 2030.

She is currently on indefinite leave as she prepares for a possible impeachment trial.

• Sereno asserts 'indefinite leave is not a resignation'
• 'Give me my day in Senate impeachment court': CJ Sereno

-report from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News