4 Principles of Life

By Maria Lourdes Sereno

If my heart is no longer crying at injustice, then I must leave my position in the Supreme Court—then I no longer deserve to be a Justice of the Supreme Court. The moment na hindi na ako umiiyak, yung hindi na ako nasasaktan, yung heart ko hindi na nagbe-break sa nakikita kong kawalan ng katarungan, ibig sabihin matigas na ang puso ko, dapat umalis na ako. Hindi pwede yun.

“Ang godly attitude ng Kristiyano sa Pilipinas must be a continuation of our early models’ own attitudes—they were not impressed by the powerful. Yes they cooperated. Yes they were not law-breakers. But they did not play the games that the powerful enjoyed playing: manipulating the minds of people, leading them to call evil as good, and good as evil. In other words, ang mga Kristiyano ay hindi kayang sumuporta sa masasamang gawain.”

BUILDING FILIPINAS TOGETHER

I have always dreamt of reconciling my father’s dreams with his roots. How he longed for his people to step out of the margins where the cosmopolitans of the country had consigned them into a place of obsolete legend. When I remember my father, I know that, somehow, he thought that Sulu could have been a bigger place than the customs and army people made it: a source of blue seal cigarettes, arms, batik and insurgent armies.

INTERVIEWS

YOUR STORY

“And—without question—there is not a single practitioner who can EVER claim that she can be compromised. Or that her integrity has a price tag.”

-Atty. Agnes Maranan

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is living proof that true courage is forged through adversity.

Sereno rose from humble beginnings to become the country’s first female Chief Justice in 2012. She attended public elementary and secondary school, then pursued higher education through scholarships. She graduated valedictorian from the UP College of Law in 1984, and holds a Masters of Law degree, specializing in law and economics and international trade law, from the University of Michigan.

She was a law professor at the UP for nearly 20 years. The World Trade Organization recognized her stellar credentials with her 1998 appointment as Counsellor of their Appellate Body in Geneva, Switzerland. She was also involved in successful international litigation as co-counsel for the Republic and was AIM’s Executive Director for their Policy Center.

With her modernizing outlook and firm belief in the power of technology, she co-founded a corporation that developed the first annotated electronic research system in Philippine Law. Her tenure as Chief Justice is marked by far-reaching reforms, including eCourts, automated hearings, case decongestion, continuous trials, and expanded small claims courts. At the heart of her reform program is the strong conviction that justice and the law’s protection should be accessible and responsive to the most vulnerable Filipinos. Because she was a staunch defender of judicial independence, Sereno was subjected to intense persecution.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is now a major voice for people-centered change in Philippine society. She believes this change is part of God’s desire for this country, that every Filipino is precious in God’s sight, bawat isa mahalaga, and that each citizen and every community has a role in building up this nation. She is an advocate for faithfulness to the vision of a “just and humane society” in the Philippine Constitution, and integrity and accountability in governance.

FOLLOW