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Sereno vows return to SC's 'dignified silence,' declines media interviews

By Mark Merueñas, GMA NewsAugust 28, 2012 9:43am

Amid the public attention following her historic appointment as the country's first female top judge, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno declined media interviews, saying the Supreme Court (SC) must bring back its "golden days of dignified silence."

In her first official statement since ascending to the highest judicial post, Sereno acknowledged the media's "important role as a natural ally" for transparency.

However, she still declined media interviews to "minimize susceptibility to misinterpretation" of the high court's actions.

That policy is a marked difference from the relative accessibility of her predecessor. During his more than two-year stint as chief justice, Renato Corona occasionally gave interviews to the media, especially soon after his controversial appointment in 2010 by former President Gloria Arroyo and in the weeks leading up to his conviction and ouster last May by the Senate impeachment court. Corona had even attacked other justices in media interviews.

Chief Justice Sereno pronounced on Tuesday a return to a hallowed Supreme Court tradition.

"Wisdom leads me to seek to return the Supreme Court to its days of dignified silence when justices were heard and read through their writings, and when actions of the court were best seen in their collective resolutions," Sereno said.

Even though Sereno declined interviews, she assured the public that the SC's various offices will engage the media and the public to provide "accurate and timely information."

She thanked the people who supported her and those who worked for the success of the search for the next chief justice.

SC not a political branch

Sereno said the judiciary has a "unique role" and is not a political branch of government.

Sereno vowed to "act with due speed" in discharging its roles, but stressed that the high court's actions must be "clear, categorical, and not easily given to change."

"It must thus exert efforts to minimize susceptibility to misinterpretation," she said.

"If the Supreme Court is to return to its golden days, then Chief Justice must respectfully decline all these well-meaning requests for interviews," Sereno added.

Media interviews would be distraction

She said she considered two main reasons in deciding whether to accommodate the "urgent and well-meaning requests" for interviews from media that she has been receiving since being appointed last Friday.

"The first was how to demonstrate my instinctive preference for treating with fairness the requests coming from all legitimate media personalities," she said.

"The second was the implication for the constitutional role of the Supreme Court and the judiciary if a Chief Justice were to give interviews," she added.

Sereno argued that accommodating media interview requests would "distract me from paying attention to the more fundamental and urgent problems besetting the judiciary."

"By God's sovereignty alone, the leadership mantle has been given to me, and I accept it in all humility, knowing that without the Lord God anointing my leadership, success is not possible," Sereno said. - VVP/HS, GMA News

Tags: Supreme Court

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