Environmental lawyers on Saturday welcomed the appointment of Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as the new Chief Justice to replace the ousted Renato Corona.

In statements, the lawyers voiced hopes the high court under Sereno will revitalize the "green" courts handling environmental cases.

"With her brilliance, integrity and youth, I'm hopeful that under her watch she will revitalize the green courts to serve as bastions of environmental justice upholding our people's constitutional right to a healthful and balanced ecology," EcoWaste Coalition lawyer Armand Mejia said.

Another environmental lawyer, Gloria Ramos, noted Sereno already left a "visible imprint" with her dissent on controversial cases.

Ramos, coordinator of the Philippine Earth Justice Center, also lauded Sereno for her "independence, probity and integrity."

"We hope that, like the sterling legacies of the Davide and Puno Courts, the Sereno Court will continue the creative and reformist judicial pronouncements and initiatives in protecting our vastly threatened environmental rights, which made our Supreme Court one of the more progressive minded courts in the world.  We look forward to another environmental justice summit in the beginning of her watch," she added.

On Friday, Malacañang announced the appointment of Sereno as Chief Justice, replacing Corona, who was stripped of his post last May.

Sereno, an appointee of President Benigno Aquino III to the Supreme Court in 2010, is to take her oath before Aquino Saturday morning. — LBG, GMA News