PNoy challenges Sereno to restore Filipinos' trust in the judicial system

President Benigno Aquino III called on newly appointed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to be unwavering in the face of future challenges associated with her post and to be fair in her decisions, in the hopes of getting her countrymen to restore their faith in the judicial system.

 

“Sa ating bagong Punong Mahistrado: Huwag kang mawalan ng loob sakaling dumagsa ang mga pagsubok na kailangan mong pasanin; makakaasa kang kasangga mo ang sambayanang Pilipino,” Aquino said on Monday in his speech at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig in commemoration of National Heroes’ Day.

 

“Umaasa akong titimbangin mo ang iyong hatol at pasya upang manumbalik ang kompiyansa ng taumbayan sa institusyong iyong pamumunuan. Ang atas sa iyo ng taumbayan: pairalin ang patas na sistemang pangkatarungan; wala dapat itong kilingan, mayaman man o mahirap, karaniwang Pilipino man o nasa kapangyarihan,” he also said.

 

Aquino appointed Sereno as the country’s 24th Chief Justice Friday last week. She replaced former magistrate Renato Corona, who was convicted after a five-month impeachment trial for failure to fully disclose his assets, as required of public officials. Corona was seen as a close ally of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is facing charges of plunder and election fraud. Aquino, who espoused an anti-corruption platform when he ran in 2010, had said the impeachment trial was part of the reforms under his government.

 

Sereno, one of three Aquino appointees to the court, took her oath before the President last Saturday.

 

She is the first woman Chief Justice, and the second youngest ever. Sereno is expected to preside as Chief Justice for the next 18 years, or when she reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. Sereno already said that despite her appointment, she will strive to be independent.

 

"Everyone can be assured that [independence] will be something they will see," Sereno told the media last Friday, hours after being appointed to the judiciary's highest post. Farmers from Hacienda Luisita, the sugar estate in Tarlac owned by Aquino's clan, have expressed fears that Sereno may favor the President's interests in her future decisions on the case. While Sereno sided with the majority in the ruling on the redistribution of the land, she also came up with a dissenting opinion on the just compensation for the estate's owners, which she said should be based on fair market value and not the 1989 value of the property. –KG/YA, GMA News