BY NESTOR MATA
MALAYA
‘These jaw-dropping words were spoken by Chief Justice Sereno before some justices, officials and employees of the Supreme Court last Monday.’
WHEN Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was quoted in newspaper reports as having declared her appointment was “God’s will,” I thought at first it was a terminological inexactitude. But it turned out to be true. She did say those jaw-dropping words in a speech before some justices, officials and employees who attended her first flag-raising ceremony at the Supreme Court grounds last Monday morning.
“The whole world is a witness that my appointment,” Sereno said, as translated from Pilipino, “came from God only. Not by any person, not by any political bloc, and not by any lobbying by business or economic interest groups. But only God knows what his plans are for the people.” And, she boldly proclaimed, “… it is time to give the leadership of the Supreme Court to one of his humble servants!”
Sereno’s jaw-dropping words made me wonder whether she’s a person who often prays to God to direct her in life, and whether God hears and answers her prayers for her needs, her concerns, and whatever issues are current in her life. If so, then no wonder she said that God has heard and answered whatever she asked for, as manifested by the latest event that has played out in her life. And that’s why she said it was God’s will to anoint her as the new chief magistrate.
Her religiosity was in fact confirmed by results of tests conducted by a team of psychiatrists and psychologists for the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) in its search for nominees for the position of chief justice. According to the test results, she’s “…dramatic and emotional, appears energetic and all smiles and agreeable, but with a religious preoccupation in almost all significant aspects of her life.”
This “religious preoccupation” was indeed reflected by Sereno, after her appointment by as chief justice, when she told that gathering of justices, officials and employees in the Supreme Court grounds, “Ito po ay galing sa Panginoong Diyos lamang!” And, with a dramatic flourish, she said, “I face you with all humility, I am your leader but I am your servant leader…” (This sounded like another version of her “godfather’s” words of, “Kayo ang boss ko!”). Then she pleaded to them “to trust me and to work double time because much is needed to be done to institute reforms…Can I count on you to do this? Can we ignore intrigues as well as rumors?”
What a jaw-dropping performance by the first woman and youngest chief justice ever! Still, her reaching out for help in instituting reforms in the SJ and the judiciary indicated she’s fully aware that her appointment had bypassed senior justices, and even dashed hopes of other justices to reach the coveted top position because she’ll be serving for 18 years, a tenure that will last long, long after the “godfather” who appointed her, has bowed out of the presidency.
So, apparently sensing that this might complicate her days, months and years as chief magistrate, Sereno heeded Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s warning that she’ll be “the target of all kinds of judicial undercurrents…and the senior justices are extremely unhappy that you jumped the queue, and you should be prepared to meet all kinds of non-cooperation in the tribunal.”
Thus, in her speech before those SC justices and officials and employees, Sereno called on her fellow justices – those who were present as well as the senior jurists who were notably absent – to support her in carrying out reforms in the judiciary, an assignment given to her by the President.
One of Sereno’s classmates at the Ateneo de Manila University has attested to her “brilliance, fortitude, independence, and strong ethical compass…,” but are these traits enough to help her cope with those stark realities of facing not only the silent wrath of senior and more experienced justices who felt “insulted” by her appointment by her “godfather” in the Palace along the murky waters of the Pasig River?
Besides, Sereno has not yet responded to the issue about her having flunked (she reportedly got a low grade of four, which should have disqualified her according to JBC rules!) the mental fitness that were commissioned by the JBC. The results of those tests of Sereno and other nominees are considered highly confidential by the executive committee of the JBC, now headed ex-officio by Sereno as chief justice.
And, in answer to demands for her waiver of her statement of her wealth, she released a “corrected” Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). But she sought refuge in her avowed “dignified silence” when she declined to answer criticisms about her religious beliefs, and skepticism about her independence by critics in judicial and legal and media circles, and that she’s a “puppet” of President Noynoy Aquino.
This is a good time as any to commend to Sereno what Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit in the Supreme Court of the United States, once voiced: “When a judge puts on his or her court robe, he or she does not immediately become better equipped intellectually to do the job!”
Oh, these may not be God-given words, Madame Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, but heed them, if you please, and pray that you’ll find your decade and eight years-long tenure in the high tribunal won’t be as stormy as it looks today!
***
Thought of the Day: “Judges rule on the basis of the Constitution and the laws of the land, not public opinion, and they should be totally indifferent to pressures of the times!” – Warren E. Burger.
http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/opinion/12415-gods-will-put-me-here
TAPOS NA MGA AREGLUHAN SA KORTE SUPREMA NATIN. ITONG MGA SENIOR JUSTICES NATIN SA KORTE SUPREMA NAG GAGALA ETI SA INIS AT INGIT KAY CJ SERENO…MALAMANG SEGURO MARAMI NA KASI NAKASALANG NA KASONG DAPAT AREGLUHIN KUNG SILA ANG NAILOKLOK SA PWESTO,HEHEHE. DATING CJ CORONA PA MISMO NAGBUNYAG NA YUN KASO NG ANAK NI “FREDDIE WEBB” AY GINAGAPANG NA NI CARPIO SA KORTE SUPREMA JUSTICES.
Re: Maria Lourdes Sereno as SC Chief Justice- why not give the woman the chance to prove herself. While it’s true she’s less senior than some of those candidates -it’s a moot point that PNOY knows what he’s doing; she is not her favorite, niether he is her godfather, but rather PNOY believes in her capacity to serve. Don’t you believe one cannot prove his/her might until he/she begins to serve and prove himself/herself as worthy of the post he/she has been appointed?
So, let’s all give Ms. Sereno that privilege to serve and to prove that although she’s less senior than some of the candidates, she can still do it, so why not give her that chance!
Those CBCP bishops should be able to explain what C/J Sereno meant! Didn’t Samuel anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse, bypassing all the seven older sons, to succeed Saul? Sereno was simply a law professor when she was appointed by PNoy as associate justice. Go back two years earlier – who would have thought that PNoy would become president? C/J Sereno simply put a prophetic meaning and purpose to her appointment. In the same manner that David, the shepherd boy, rose to the occasion to defeat Goliath and all other enemies, it will be her mandate to eradicate corruption and rectify the other ills plaguing the judiciary. If she believes that God put her there to uphold the law as it should be – then why should it bother anyone who has nothing to hide from the law?
Let’s try her but with her religious conviction regarding the RH Bill, I doubt she will be fair.
i like guy camacho’s comment for sereno.
Nehemiah, was assigned as “cup-bearer” of the King but became governor of Jerusalem who invoked God’s will.
The Crucial question of her appointment is her low percentage of Psychological Test/Examination. This is one that I had so much arguments with people who are ignorant of Psychological Testing/Examination. It is the duty of the Dr or the Psychometrician to interview the Person that had taken the exam. Because the reason of the manner of the Psyhcological Test/Exam is Conditional. To really confirm the FINDINGS another set of test is given but not the same as the previous set of test given. This is where the JBC had failed according to my understanding. Because, Psychological Test is Deduction or Abduction in the manner the test questions are presented.Anyone from Psychometrician Profession can say more better on this issue.
Perhaps, our new chief justice is a prophet and will lead us to the Promise Land, where there will be no crimes, plentiful food for everybody and each one living in harmony. Why, the Philippines might become paradise or get back the lost Eden, as Rizal mentioned in his famous poem, Mi Ultimo Adios.