PHNO-HL: MILITANT GROUPS CAUTION CJ SERENO/ DEMONS OF LUISITA CASE HOUND NEW CHIEF JUSTICE


MILITANT GROUPS CAUTION CJ SERENO/ DEMONS OF LUISITA CASE
HOUND NEW CHIEF JUSTICE

[PHOTO -Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Militant groups
criticized early]
MANILA, AUGUST 27, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Ricky Brozas Radyo Inquirer -
Militant groups criticized early Sunday the decision of President Benigno Aquino
III in choosing Maria Lourdes Sereno as the new Chief Justice.

In a Radyo Inquirer 990 AM report, Kilusang Mayo Uno, through its chairperson
Elmer Labog, said having Sereno as Chief Justice is meant to protect the
interests of the president's family in the Hacienda Luisita case.

Sereno, he explained, is the first appointee of Aquino in the high court who
wrote a dissenting opinion regarding the decision to distribute the lands to
Hacienda Luisita farmers.

Because of this, Labog added, it can be said the decision to have Sereno in
the Supreme Court is self-serving for the president. He said it is meant to
reverse the decision on Hacienda Luisita and to increase the compensation meant
for the Cojuangco clan.

The group also gave the warning that Sereno will become a puppet of Aquino
regarding policies that will counter the interests of laborers.

Because of this, Labog said it is now becoming clear the real mission of
Aquino to impeach former Chief Justice Renato Corona is not to hold former
president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for the cases lodged against her
but for the Cojuangco clan to maintain its control of Hacienda Luisita.

In a related development, a militant youth group challenged the new Chief
Justice to start reforming the high court by being an independent body.

Anakbayan, through its National Capital Region Secretary Dianne Solmayor,
said Serendo must now prove that she is not like others who can twist the arms
of the law.

She said Sereno should prove that the Supreme Court under her won't be called
"Aquino Supreme Court." She cautioned her not to be like her predecessor,
Corona, whose reign was described "Arroyo Supreme Court."

Solmayor said they will be on guard regarding cases related to laborers,
farmers and urban poor, particularly the Hacienda Luisita case, which will be a
test for Sereno.

Instead of following Aquino's style, Anakbayan advised Sereno to follow the
example made by the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo,
who selflessly and wholeheartedly serve the Filipino people.
DEMONS OF LUISITA CASE HOUND NEW CHIEF JUSTICE By:
Amando Doronila INQUIRER
When President Aquino appointed Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria
Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice on Friday, he settled the issue of whether he
would appoint a court insider in a deep selection that respected a tradition
that the court has been led by an insider, except once, during the Japanese
occupation in World War II.

The appointment of an insider may have upheld one important tradition, but
the elevation of Sereno to the soaring heights of judicial authority shattered
several traditions in a discontinuity that unsettled the time-honored patterns
of succession in the court's hierarchy.

The President broke the norm by picking the Chief Justice not from among the
five most senior justices, but by pole-vaulting Sereno, who ranked 13th on the
succession line, over their heads, leaving rankling resentment among those
bypassed. Most of the senior justices did not attend Sereno's oath-taking on
Saturday before Mr. Aquino in Malacañang.

1st Aquino appointee

The most galling action is that Sereno is the first appointee of the Aquino
administration to the Supreme Court, in a 15-seat tribunal packed by appointees
of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

There are many "first" tradition-busting events in the changing of guard in
the court, following the dismissal by impeachment of Renato Corona as Chief
Justice in May. All these changes have implications for the independence of the
Supreme Court relative to the political branches of government (the executive
and legislative), impaired by the Aquino administration's campaign to dismiss
Corona from the high court.

As Mr. Aquino starts to revamp the Supreme Court with the appointment of his
own protégés, it's important to note that Sereno was appointed as the youngest
Chief Justice at the age of 52, after Chief Justice Manuel Moran, who was
appointed Chief Justice at 51 years of age in 1945, and the first female Chief
Justice. She will serve for 18 years, until mandatory retirement at 70, making
her Chief Justice for life.

These breaks with tradition, however, take secondary importance to the issue
confronting the court. The foremost concern of the Filipino people about these
changes appears to be the question of whether an independent and a stronger
judiciary would come out of the reformed leadership of the Supreme Court.

Mirror image

In appointing Sereno as Chief Justice, the President is remolding the court's
character in the image of his policy goal of eradicating corruption by putting
his mirror image in charge of the judiciary. Mr. Aquino picked Sereno from a
short list of eight nominees vetted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), five
of whom were recruited from the high court.

Despite Sereno's impressive credentials, including academic record, work
experience as a lawyer for more than 26 years, professor of law mainly at the
University of the Philippines, concerns have been expressed over her backbone's
capacity to resist pressure from an interventionist President flushed with
hubris flowing from success in ousting the reviled past regime's Chief Justice
Corona.

Sereno's CV is hard to fault. But her blue-ribbon academic and professional
pedigree does not give us assurance of her ability to overcome her perceived
bias in favor of presidential decisions and to stand up against the
interventions of the political branches in judiciary affairs.

Praises have rained down on her as an "excellent choice" from a wide sector,
including legal circles, high political circles, colleagues on the bench and the
business community. The fulsome adulation has reached hyperbolic proportions.


Superwoman

The Makati Business Club said it all in its statement that Sereno "is a
morally upright person with impeccable integrity, independence of mind, and
competence."

"The impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Corona divided the country and
greatly tested the faith of the people in our justice system. We sincerely hope
our new Chief Justice rebuilds people's trust in the institution by ensuring
transparency and accountability in the courts," the statement said.

It's hard to contradict these assertions. The praises tried to build up into
a superwoman on all counts—secular and ethical qualities—and it is hoped that it
is understood that these exuberant expectations on Sereno have imposed a
crushing burden on her that might be hard to bear.

In accepting the appointment, Sereno simply said she was "overwhelmed." Asked
about her independence, she said, "Everyone can be assured that there will be
something that they will see."

The appointment of Sereno reintroduced a contentious issue that has nagged
her and that has something to do with her opinion related to the valuation of
compensation to the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita for the distribution of the
estate to its farm workers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, a
major social reform legislation of Mr. Aquino's mother, President Cory Aquino.


Bias on hacienda

In July, the issue reared its head when Anakpawis Representative
Rafael Mariano accused Sereno of allegedly being biased in favor of President
Aquino's family, which owns the sugar plantation, because of her opinion that
higher compensation should be given to Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) and Tarlac
Development Corp. (Tadeco).

According to Mariano, Sereno set the valuation of the estate at 2006 prices
which would have given HLI P5 billion in compensation.

The Supreme Court has decided to compensate the landowners based on the Nov.
21, 1989, valuation instead of the 2006 rates. Sereno was one of the justices
who voted unanimously on April 24, 2012, to order distribution of the estate to
its workers, but in a subsequent decision, she wrote a dissenting opinion on
compensation.

The Cojuangco family issued in November last year a statement that they
accepted the ruling, according to a World Socialist website report, but
simultaneously filed an appeal that land be valued at 2006 prices (P2.45 million
per hectare) rather than 1989 prices (P40,000 per hectare). The appeal is
pending with the reformed (Daang Matuwid) Supreme Court.

This is where the demons of the Hacienda Luisita case have caught up with
Chief Justice Sereno. It has put her in a conflict of interest bind. It puts to
a test where her loyalty lies—the interests of her political patron's family or
the interests of fair and impartial administration of justice?




Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved




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