Chief Justice Sereno says her appointment was 'God's will'

(Updated 4:30 p.m.) - Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Monday said her appointment as head of the judiciary was not a product of the lobbying of politicians or businessmen but was "God’s will."

 

“Ito pong mundo ay testigo na galing ho sa Panginoon lamang [ang aking pagkakatalaga bilang Chief Justice]. Hindi ito gawa ng tao o hindi ito gawa ng sinong political [player],” Sereno said after attending her first flag-raising ceremony at the Supreme Court (SC) as Chief Justice.

 

“Hindi ho ito produkto ng paglolobby ng mga business group o economic interest, kundi po ang Diyos na may alam sa plano ng ating bayan,” Sereno added.

 

The 52-year-old Sereno is the Philippines' first woman chief justice.

 

“Nasa puso po ng bawat mahistrado sa inyong Korte Suprema na gawin ang lahat ng abot ng kanilang makakaya upang ang Hudikatura ay kilalanin sa pagiging tanyag sa kadakilaan ng kanyang serbisyo sa bayan. Lahat po kami ay iisa lang ang aming layunin, ang makita po ng bayan bilang ang bagong bayani,” Sereno said.

 

“Wala po akong hinihingi sa inyo na hindi ko gagampanan… [Ako po] ay mamumuno sa Hudikatura ayon sa kalooban ng Diyos. Ipagdasal niyo po ang taong bayan,” she said.

 

Sereno’s repeated mention of God in her public statements has raised questions about her commitment to secularism. Results of a psychological test required by the Judicial and Bar Council and leaked to a newspaper purportedly cited her "religious preoccupation" as a liability.  

The results alleged the chief justice was “dramatic and emotional, she appears energetic and all smiles and agreeable, but with religious preoccupation in almost all significant aspects of her life…” 

 

Poliitical pundit and blogger Patricio Mangubat wrote that he found Sereno's latest pronouncement "disturbing... since belief in God does not jibe with the overwhelming presupposition of a neutral or religiously non-biased Court. The Court should ever be non-committal in the worship or non-worship of a God. What the Court 'worships' is the Law."   "Will she put her so-called religious preoccupation ahead of her duty to protect the constitutionally enshrined ideal of secularism?" asks Red Tani, a member of Filipino Freethinkers, an activist group promoting secularism that has been at loggerheads with Catholic bishops over the RH bill. "Projecting a religious image might merely be her way of assuring Filipino citizens that she is righteous and trustworthy--unlike the previous CJ... But I can't help worrying about what would happen should controversial bills--such as RH, the anti-discrimination bill, etc--be appealed to the SC."

 

Senator Escudero: Sereno's faith not a hindrance

 

Meanwhile, in an interview with reporters on Monday, JBC member Senator Francis Escudero said Sereno's faith should not be seen as a possible hindrance to the performance of her duties.

 

"Na may matinding pananampalataya at mabigat na pananampalataya ang sinumang opisyal ng gobyerno hindi naman dahilan yun para makaapekto sa kanyang trabaho," he said.

 

He said he was not worried about the issue after witnessing how Sereno presided over the JBC meeting earlier in the day.

 

"Wala naman akong nakikitang problema at hadlang na magampanan niya ang kanyang tungkulin," said the senator, who also chairs the Senate committee on justice and humanr rights. 

 

Escudero said the release of Sereno's psychological test is "a matter for the executive committee and the chief justice herself to decide."

 

"Ang rule lang namin ay [those are] confidential and [they are] only for the consumption of the members of the JBC," he said.

 

In a separate interview on Monday, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile likewise said the new chief justice's beliefs should not be an issue.

 

“There’s no religious test in any position in government. Whether she is a believer, you can appoint even a non-believer as chief justice to the Supreme Court," Enrile said. "You can appoint a member of the Islamic faith...or Born Again Christian or a member of the Catholic faith.  You can also appoint a Buddhist if he’s qualified. We have religious freedom in this country," he explained.

 

"[So] we do not anticipate [any] inability [for her] to perform [her] duty," he added. – with Carmela Lapeña/Kimberly Jane Tan/NM/VVP/HS, GMA News