Martires denies ‘faith shaming’ Sereno: I’d be crazier than her if I did that

Published May 12, 2018 7:03pm

Associate Justice Samuel Martires denied "faith shaming" ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno during oral arguments at the Supreme Court on the quo warranto petition filed against her by the Office of the Solicitor General.

Sereno had earlier sought the inhibition of Martires from the quo warranto case after he allegedly "insinuated that her pervasive faith in God could be a sign of mental illness."

During the April 10 oral arguments, Sereno had mentioned God was the "source of everything." Martires, during interpellation, later asked petitioner Solicitor General Jose Calida if he considered it a mental illness when a person always invokes God.

Sereno's camp insisted Martires' line of questioning showed "actual bias."

However, Martires — in his 47-page concurring opinion to the SC decision granting Calida's quo warranto petition — said Sereno "clearly made a consciously selective reading of the transcript of stenographic notes."

Martires said there was nothing in his questions to Calida that "insinuates" Sereno was mentally ill because of her pervasive faith in God.

Hit where it hurts most

Martires said depicting him as a "faith-shaming justice" was a "cunning spin-off" and a "desperate move to invite sympathy."

"Sereno now changes her self-styled award-winning act by shifting the blame from political personalities and the independence of the judiciary to religion," the magistrate said.

"Calling me a 'faith shamer' hit me where it hurts most as movant Sereno is fully aware that we have the same spiritual beliefs — that God is the reason for our success, the source of our happiness, and the center of our lives," he said.

Martires said it would make him "crazier than her" if he would brand Sereno as "sira ulo" (crazy) on the basis of her religious beliefs. "It would be incongruous, if not totally absurd," he said.

On the contrary, Martires said he had actually defended Sereno in the past, particularly when a report by Jomar Canlas in the Manila Times came out in 2012 about the results of her psychiatric examination.

Martires recounted how he told Canlas that the psychiatrist being mentioned in his report did not make a fair assessment and evaluation of the tests conducted and hastily jumped into a conclusion.

"Movant Sereno is well aware of the defenses I made to protect her because I told her about this [conversation with Canlas] during our first meeting when I was appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court," Martires said.

"Now, my only consolation is that she is mouthing the very defenses I used to shield her from criticism," he added.

Sign of the cross

Martires turned the tables and asked who the "real faith shamer" could be.

The justice then recounted a meeting with the Chiefs of Office of the Supreme Court sometime between 2012 and 2013.

Martires claimed that during that meeting, Sereno directed the chiefs of office not to make the sign of the cross during official meetings or functions before and after the ecumenical prayer is recited.

"Was movant Sereno curtailing the right to religion of the court employees? Was movant Sereno insulting the Catholics when, in a [Philippine Judicial Academy] meeting, she made the sign of the cross even if she is not a Catholic? Or is this movant Sereno's way of mocking the Catholic faith?" Martires asked.

"Who is the real faith shamer?" he added.

Martires said Sereno cannot "forever cowardly hide the truth by mudslinging every person who she thinks could unravel her distorted claims."

"[Sereno] now finds herself in a quagmire of her own version of fabricated falsehoods and distorted truths," he said. — MDM, GMA News

RELATED LINKS:

Main decision

Concurring opinion

De Castro: Sereno appointment is void due to lies, deception

Dissenting opinions

Tags: samuelmartires, marialourdessereno, supremecourt, quowarrantopetition