Tuesday Opener Thoughts

By Maria Lourdes Sereno

Novemer 15, 2022

Lord, reading yesterday’s news accounts on our government, continue what has been widely observed by ordinary Filipinos and economic experts – there is no relief in sight from high prices for families. Mahal ang lahat ng bilihin, dumarami ang naghihirap.

So we come before You with renewed vigour in our prayer – teach us, Lord, to look at You as our great provider, but teach us to learn that You have chosen to provide also through us. You have given us strength, intelligence and creativity to create wealth for our families and society. You have also chosen to provide for us by giving us the power and responsibility to hold our government to account when they fail to do what they swore to do under the Constitution – to promote the common good.

Give us courage as a people, Lord, for the powerful and the culture they propagated have taught our people to think and feel that they are helpless. Refresh them with the truth that each of them has been made in the image of God, and that they are collectively the Sovereign Filipino People. Awaken them to the truth that all public officials are required to serve and not be served.

For the sake of the future generations, Lord, teach us to fight as nation-builders responsible for this land, for this is our Christian duty as salt and light.

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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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