leila de lima | TugmaLahat

STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF SENATOR LEILA DE LIMA’S BIRTHDAY | Maria Lourdes Sereno

It is not easy to draft a fitting message for Senator Leila de Lima, especially on her birthday. What does one say to a woman with manifold gifts and such fortitude, and yet has been so unfairly treated?

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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.

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