phno-hl: CJ SERENO PROFILE: FIRST FEMALE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE PHILIPPINES

CJ SERENO PROFILE: FIRST FEMALE CHIEF JUSTICE OF
THE PHILIPPINES

[PHOTO - FIRST PNoy APPOINTEE TO THE SUPREME COURT, CHIEF JUSTICE
MARIA LOURDES ARANAL-SERENO VOWS JUDICIAL REFORMS]]
MANILA, AUGUST 25, 2012 (ABS-CBN) By Ina Reformina -Supreme Court (SC)
Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno, the 169th Justice of the high
court, is the 24th Chief Justice.
In a transmittal letter addressed to Senior Associate Antonio Carpio and
Sereno, Exec. Sec. Paquito Ochoa formally informed the high court about the
appointment.
On page one of the letter addressed to Carpio, Ochoa said: "I am pleased to
transmit herewith the appointment of Hon. Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno, signed by
His Excellency, Pres. Benigno Simeon S. Aquino III, as Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of the Philippines, vice Renato Corona."
On the page addressed to Sereno, Aquino said: "Pursuant to the provisions of
existing laws, you are hereby appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
the Philippines. By virtue hereof, you may qualify and enter upon the
performance of the duties of the office, furnishing this Office and the Civil
Service Commission with copies of your oath of office."
She is the first lady Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines and
will serve a term of 18 years. Because of her appointment, not one of the
sitting more senior justices of the high court -- all 14 of them -- will ascend
to the chief justiceship.

Below is the profile of Chief Justice Sereno:
Associate Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno is the first appointee to the
Supreme Court (SC) by Pres. Noynoy Aquino and the youngest among the nominees
for Chief Justice coming from the high tribunal.
She was born on July 2, 1960; she is 52 years old.
She completed her law degree at the University of the Philippines (UP) in
1984 as Class Valedictorian and cum laude.
As pre-law, she took up AB Economics at the Ateneo De Manila University
(ADMU) where she graduated in 1980.
She completed her secondary education in 1976 at the Quezon City High School,
with Honors; her elementary education was completed in 1972 when she graduated
Class Salutatorian from the Kamuning Elementary School.
She had her post-graduate degree at the UP School of Economics with the
Master of Arts in Economics Program which she finished in 1992. In 1993, she
completed another masteral degree, this time, Master of Laws, at the University
of Michigan, Michigan, USA.
Justice Sereno was appointed to the Supreme Court on Aug. 13, 2010.
Professional background
She started her career in private practice as a junior associate of the Sycip
Salazar Feliciano and Hernandez law firm in 1986.
Starting in1994 up to 2008, she served as legal counsel of various government
offices such as the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Solicitor
General (OSG), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Dept. of Trade and
Industry (DTI), and WTO-AFTA. Sometime between 1995 to 1996, she headed the
Information and Public Division office of the UP Law Complex.
Also, in 1995, she served as consultant for Judicial Reform of the UNDP, WB,
and USAID; she served in this capacity up to 2002.
From 1996 to 1999, she was Director of the UP Institute of Legal Studies.

In 1998, she was a counsellor of the WTO Appellate Body.
In 1999, she served as Commissioner and Chairperson of the Steering Committee
of the Preparatory Commission on Constitutional Reform.
Sereno was a lecturer at the Dept. of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Foreign Service
Institute from 1996 to 2007.
She served as a lecturer in Electronic Commerce Law at the AIM in 2000, at
the same time, at the Murdoch University lecturing on International Business Law
from 2001 t0 2002. She also lectured on International Business Law at the
University of Western Australia from 2003 up to 2007.
In 2004, she was a lecturer on International Trade Law at the Hague Academy
of International Law.
She was a longtime professor at the UP, teaching for 20 years, from 1986 to
2002.
She became the Executive Director of the AIM in 2009, a post she held on to
for a year.
Sereno became president of ACCESSLAW, Inc. in 2000, a post she continues to
enjoy up to the present.
Awards, other credentials
In her 25 years as a lawyer and educator, Sereno received the following
awards:
- 1998 Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service - 2000 Most Outstanding
Alumna Award, Quezon City High School - 2003 Most Oustanding Alumna Award,
Kamuning Elementary School - 1991 Provincial Citation, Camarines Sur
She was also able to edit the book, Thirty Years and Beyond (UP Law, 1997).

Sereno was the key writer on Law and Economics and the Constitution and
Judicial Review of Economic Decisions.
She also drafted the legal framework for the operations of the first
paperless trading of securities in the country for the Bureau of Treasury (BT).

Endorsements for Chief Justice, oppositions
Sereno was not automatically nominated for the top judicial post for being
one of the most junior magistrates of the Supreme Court, rather, she was
nominated by the following:
- Felma Roel Singco (June 13, 2012) - Reagan De Guzman (June 13, 2012) -
Atty. Fidel Thaddeus Borja (June 14, 2012) - Attys. Jordan Pizarras, et al.
(June 15, 2012) - Christian Legal Society through Atty. Salvador Fabregas (June
14, 2012) - Bishop Efraim Tendero (June 18, 2012) - UP Women's Circle (June 13,
2012)
Notable Ponencias
State of Emergency in Sulu
Sereno authored the Supreme Court decision nullifying the proclamation of a
state of emergency in the southern province of Sulu in 2009 during the
kidnapping of 3 members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The high court en banc, in the decision dated July 3, 2012, held that only
the President of the Republic of the Philippines is vested with emergency powers
and, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and
leader of the Philippine National Police (PNP), call out the military and state
security forces to respond to a state of emergency, local or otherwise.
Sereno wrote: "[I]t has already been established that there is one repository
of executive powers, and that is the President of the Republic... Corollarily,
it is only the President, as Executive, who is authorized to exercise emergency
powers as provided under Sec. 23., Art. VI, of the Constitution, as well as what
became known as the calling-out powers under Sec. 7, Art. VII thereof."
Lenny Villa case
She also penned the decision finding 5 members of Ateneo De Manila Law
School's Aquila Legis Fraternity liable for the brutal hazing of Leonardo
"Lenny" Villa in February 1991.
In the resolution, the high court held that Fidelito Dizon, Antonio Mariano
Almeda, Junel Anthony Ama, Renato Bantug, Jr. and Vincent Tecson were found
guilty beyond reasonable doubt of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

In her ponencia, Sereno wrote: "[T]he collective acts of the fraternity
members were tantamount to recklessness, which made the resulting death of Lenny
a culpable felony. It must be remembered that organizations owe to their
initiates a duty of care not to cause them injury in the process. With the
foregoing facts, we rule that the accused are guilty of reckless imprudence
resulting in homicide. Since the NBI medico-legal officer found that the
victim's death was the cumulative effect of the injuries suffered, criminal
responsibility redounds to all those who directly participated in and
contributed to the infliction of physical injuries."




Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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