Testimonials | TugmaLahat

If she were a dessert, Maria Lourdes A. Sereno would be a soufflé — crusty on the outside but balanced, flavorful and pleasingly mellow in the inside.

“Some Judges and Justices have and will go down judicial history with ignominious reputations; they lose every “friend” the New York minute after they step down from the Bench. They are the profession’s jokes and clowns, and we gleefully sneer at them when they turn in their judge’s license plates.

Not CJ Sereno. Her legacy is an unimpeachable reputation, and a record of leadership marked by changes that have and will continue to enhance the judiciary and the legal profession.

It is an honor to have been a practitioner with her at the helm.” – Atty. Maranan

Then, about the end of our first week, Chief came into the Court Attorneys’ offices without notice and changed my impressions instantly. After remarking to a few of her lawyers about matters concerning work, she briefly spoke with some of us interns. The Chief Justice I spoke with–or listened to, since it was difficult to “unchoke” and speak after she stood right by the doorway of our cubicle – was as much a boss as she was a friend. The first thing she asked us, jokingly, was whether any of her lawyers took the liberty of bullying the newest additions to her office. After sharing a bit of a laugh with us, Chief went on to say that the work was going to be challenging but that we were going to have fun. Then she left us with another parting statement about being watchful of bullies. She smiled and left.

When my mother was asked if there were any attempts to get her to discuss her differences with the President, this is what she said:

“Napakahalaga sa akin ay matingnan ko sa sa mata ang bawat huwes at sabihing tumayo ka. Kahit sino pang makapangyarihan ang tumawag sa iyo, manindigan ka sa iyong paniniwalang tama. At huwag na huwag kang papatakot. Kung ako po ay nakipag-usap, nag-kompromise, nawala na po ang ganoong kakayahan ko…. Hindi ako nag-kompromiso, nanindigan ako sa tama.”

They clipped her wings in desperation. The culled the mountains and seas, and dove through hell to bring her down. And she fell. She fell from the stars. But she never hit the ground. The fire within her burned brighter still.

Sereno’s removal comes on the heels of a series of public statements by President Rodrigo Duterte attacking the Chief Justice, including direct threats to seek her removal from the Court.

The ICJ and other national and international observers have repeatedly and publicly condemned these attacks.

Her removal, through the contrivance of a judicial ruling by a sharply divided Court, adds to the perception that the government institutions are unable or unwilling to safeguard the rule of law, and will attack the institutions that protect it. –INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS

Since her appointment, Chief Justice Sereno has led within the bounds of her office in calling for and working toward bringing about an independent judiciary, greater accountability of government officers, stronger protection of human rights, and tougher fight against the culture of impunity. We applaud her for taking principled stands through all these years, even at the expense of popularity, to serve the cause of what is good, right, fair and just. –PCEC

PANOORIN: Panayam ni Professor Winnie Monsod kina Atty. Milagros Fernan-Cayosa na miyembro ng Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) at Atty. Roberto Cadiz na Executive Director of Libertas and Co-Convenor of Supreme Court of Appointments ukol sa transparent na proseso ng pagpili para sa susunod na Chief Justice ng Pilipinas.

Ironically, to maintain Chief Justice Sereno in her position in the Supreme Court will do President Duterte more good than harm. For one, it will show the confidence of his administration in the workings of our institutions despite contrary views espoused by some of its members, especially the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. That is an indicator of stability. not insecurity.