ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN: NOY'S CHIEF
JUSTICE
[PHOTO -President Aquino administers the oath of office of
new Chief Justice Sereno, PHILSTAR FILE]
MANILA, AUGUST 27, 2012
(PHILSTAR) SKETCHES By Ana Marie Pamintuan -Women now
occupy three top positions in the justice system.
All three – Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima, and now Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno – were appointed by President
Aquino. His late mother would have approved. Equally pleased are those working
for gender equality and women empowerment.
Gender, of course, could not have been the main consideration in Sereno's
appointment. She has sterling credentials, but she vied with several other
topnotch lawyers for the post. Why was she chosen? She has no known ties with
the appointing power that go back to high school or college days. She is not a
presidential family friend or shooting buddy. She has not lawyered for any major
campaign donor of P-Noy or the administration's Liberal Party.
When Sereno was plucked from relative obscurity to become P-Noy's first
appointee to the Supreme Court, she herself expressed surprise that someone with
no personal ties to the President had been selected. The absence of such ties
was seen as an indication of P-Noy's resolve to promote independence in the SC.
This time, Sereno's votes in SC cases are being regarded as decisive factors
in her appointment. One was her dissenting vote in the SC's ruling that
effectively allowed former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to leave the
country in November last year. We all know what happened to that departure
attempt. That SC ruling, I've been told, was the last straw for P-Noy, who then
launched a determined effort to kick out Renato Corona as chief justice.
Sereno, in her dissent, questioned the rush in the SC ruling, and argued that
the government should have been given a chance to present its side. In that
dissent, she was joined by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. Where the two
justices disagreed was over the land valuation for Hacienda Luisita when (or
if?) it is parceled out and distributed to sugar workers.
Sereno saw merit in the arguments of Hacienda Luisita Inc., which wants
higher valuation for the land. Carpio sided with the farm workers.
We may never know whether or not the case doomed the chances of Carpio, the
top choice of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), to be named chief justice.
"I present 18 years of possibilities," Sereno told the JBC during her
interview. "I am willing – through how I have lived and how I will live – by
God's grace, to be the first to be daily tested if I meet the highest standards
of integrity and credibility. I am willing to be measured by the degree of
sacrifice I make, by what I am willing to give up in order that a vision of a
judiciary that is truly noble, upright, independent, learned and excellent in
every way can become a reality."
Sereno will be constantly measured against those promises. She has received a
tremendous gift. One person I can think of who was just as blessed was GMA, when
the presidency fell into her lap during EDSA II.
The higher the public expectations, the bigger the potential for
disappointment..
* * *
As a reporter, I had tried (always in vain, like others in the judiciary
beat), to extract a comment from the late Claudio Teehankee Sr., when he was the
chief justice during the first Aquino administration.
Teehankee, a highly regarded magistrate, always told us that he would not
comment on any issue that might reach the high court. Under the Constitution,
this could be practically everything.
The blessing that has fallen into the lap of Sereno can also be a curse.The
ideal chief justice must live the life of a hermit, isolated – as is humanly
possible – from anyone who might try to influence SC decisions. The SC "chief"
especially refrains from issuing comments on raging issues to the press. It is
an abnormal existence that truly requires personal sacrifice.
In this sense, Sereno could be on the right track. For starters, she has
reportedly either changed her mobile phone number or switched it off.
Her daily test for the highest standards of integrity and credibility may
start with her response to calls for the release of her actual statement of
assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) rather than just a summary.
"We in the judiciary have no skeletons to hide," Sereno said during her JBC
interview as she promised transparency and accountability to regain public trust
in the judiciary.
During the JBC screening, The STAR's reporter was told that the SALNs of the
applicants were off-limits to the public. This secrecy can now be lifted in the
case of the new Chief Justice.
Renato Corona was doomed by inaccuracies in his SALN, which tended to bolster
corruption allegations against him. Sereno, who is being painted as a reformist,
will be off to a good start if she lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding the
assets of all members of the Supreme Court, starting with herself.
* * *
With an insider as Chief Justice, P-Noy gets to appoint another associate
justice in a court packed with appointees of his predecessor.
This tends to reinforce perceptions that he wants to wield a measure of
control over the judiciary. Considering political realities, it is a reasonable
objective. But for a reformist President and a (still unproven) reformist Chief
Justice, any attempt to undermine judicial independence is bad news.
Only time and Sereno's performance in office will dispel speculation that she
will be P-Noy's Corona, head of a court that bows to the wishes of the
appointing power.
By most accounts, Sereno is capable and has the moral fortitude for the
daunting challenges ahead.
When she is described as "Noy's chief justice," it should be synonymous with
a good choice, not with pliability or lack of independence.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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