Editorial

Appointed by God

We listened with disbelief this week as the newly minted chief justice declared that it was God’s will that she be appointed to head the highest court in the land.

In remarks after her first flag-raising ceremony at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said that she, with the entire world as a witness, rose to her office not by dint of political or business lobbying but by divine intervention that saw fit to install “a humble servant” in the highest position in the Judiciary.

“God alone made this appointment,” she told the assembled officials and employees of the high court, forgetting perhaps in her zeal the role that President Benigno Aquino III played in ejecting her predecessor and installing her in his place.

Later on, she asked the employees for prayers so that the discussions with the Budget Department would proceed favorably—trusting again in divine intercession that the Supreme Court would be adequately funded next year.

We see nothing wrong, of course, with having devout men and women in public office, but the chief justice’s remarks, reminiscent of Joan of Arc, are worrisome.

They are particularly troublesome to those among us who subscribe to Section 6 of Article II of the Constitution, which states that the separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.

Given her clearly stated belief in divine will and the role that God expects her to play, we cannot help but wonder how the new chief justice will decide on issues of national import in the secular world.

For instance, how would a chief justice who believes she was installed by God handle a constitutional challenge to the reproductive health bill, if it is passed into law? The Catholic Church and its supporters have launched a scorched-earth campaign against the measure on what are clearly religious grounds. Would a chief justice who sees the hand of God in her own appointment not be inclined do the same?

This is a legitimate question that demands a serious answer, particularly since this chief justice rose to her position on a call for greater transparency in the judicial process.

Before Sereno’s appointment, the Judicial and Bar Council had disqualified one retired judge who admitted to consulting imaginary dwarves before passing judgment on the cases brought before him. Will this chief justice do the religious equivalent and consult scripture before settling legal issues that affect all Filipinos, regardless of their faith?

To believers, there is a whole world of difference between a widely accepted God and imaginary dwarves, but most of us agree that neither of them can be seen in the real world, over which our courts hold jurisdiction.

Baring psycho test is CJ’s call

Joker: ‘God-appointed Sereno now speaking ex-cathedra’

Baring the psychiatric exam result of the claimed God-appointed chief justice, Lourdes Sereno, is her call, a senator-member of the Judicial Bar and Council said yesterday, while Sereno insists it is not her call but the JBC’s, where she sits as head, to release her psychiatric test results.

At the same time mlitants mocked Sereno’s claim of her having been appointed by God, and not of man, or anyone in this earth, telling her to show the nation her appointment papers signed by God.

But the God-appointed Sereno insists that it will be up to the JBC to decide whether to release the results of the psychological examinations conducted on applicants.

A source said that during yesterday’s en banc proceedings the high court en banc decided to put off for at least a week the request of Justice Arturo Brion that the JBC release the results of the magistrates’ psychological exams.

A heated debate had ensued with senior associate Teresita Leonardo-De Castro arguing that the case for transparency requires the immediate release of the results following news reports that Sereno nearly failed the examinations which would gauge a candidate’s mental soundness for office.

Brion’s request for the JBC to disclose his own psychiatric results was turned down by the collegial body.

An appointee of President Aquino to the JBC earlier said the office will be conducting an investigation on the leakage of Sereno’s exam results.

JBC Aurora Santiago Lagman made a formal request for the matter to be investigated after a local broadsheet said Sereno and candidate Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza scored “4” in the psych examinations.

Another JBC member, Jose Mejia clarified that initiating a probe does not mean the council is confirming the results of Sereno’s psychiatric examinations.

Mejia claimed Brion’s request for the disclosure of his exams was turned down because of the collegial body’s policy not to disclose results even to the applicants themselves.

At least one senator was alarmed by Sereno’s claim of God having anointed and appointed her to become the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Sen. Joker Arroyo said he hopes “she (Sereno) would not think that she has infallibility in her judicial opinions.”

“She believes that she was anointed by the good Lord as the chief magistrate. I hope that in the next step, she would not think that she has infallibility in her judicial opinions, that she speaks ex cathedra because she has angelical status. She crowned herself,” said Senator Arroyo with a straight face yesterday.

“You when you talk about ex cathedra, that means infallibility, we hope that she doesn’t think that way because that is not good. That does not allow (room) for dissent. I just hope she has no papal infallability,” Arroyo said in an interview with reporters.

In addressing the SC employees during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony for the first time as chief justice, Sereno defended her appointment saying that she as appointed by God and not man-made, not politics, not any political bloc or business group that appointed her to the much-coveted seat in the Judiciary, claiming that the people, and the world witnessed her appointment by God.

“I just hope that she doesn’t think she is infallible, having elevated herself to angelic status, the annointee of God, you know,” Arroyo reiterated.

While most senators veered away from commenting on Sereno’s manifestation of extreme religious beliefs in relation to her dispensation of her position in government, the senator was vocal in expressing his concerns on this matter.

“Faith might be mistaken for infallability... that’s why I said I hope that she doesn’t think of this as infallability. When the Pope says, talks, about matters of faith and morals, you cannot challenge that. The Catholics are saying that,” he said.

Likewise, Arroyo said the principle of the separation of Church and State could also stand in conflict with the kind of thinking being displayed by the new chief justice.

Earlier, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile dismissed any concerns on the matter of Sereno’s religious affiliation, being a born-again Christian, in the performance of her duties.

“We do not anticipate inability to perform duty. The other side of the coin is also true that she will perform her duties well. There’s no religious test for any position in the government. You can appoint a non-believer as a Chief Justice or a Justice of the Supreme Court. You can appoint a member of the Islamic faith. You can appoint a born again or a member of the Catholic church. You can also appoint a Buddhist if he’s qualified. We have religious freedom in this country,” said Enrile.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, on the other hand, said Sereno will still have to earn the respect of her peers.

“That is a challenge to her. Respect is something you earn. It is not something you can demand. Even if you are the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or chief (of the) Philippine National Police (PNP), one cannot assume that just because are now in that high position, you will be respected by all.

“Besides, even if she is CJ, she only has one vote. What is difficult for the CJ are the many functions: adjudicatory, managerial and administrative. All that needs talent. If she cannot delegate, she really won’t be able to hack the job.

On the issue of the baring of the psychological tests of Sereno, public disclosure all applicants to the chief justice post recently screened by the JBC rests in the hands of Sereno.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, JBC member said the collegial body’s rules strictly provide for treatment of utmost confidentiality of psychiatric records and only for the consumption of its members.

“I think that is a matter for the SC to decide. It’s not for us (JBC)... that is a matter for the executive committee and the Chief Justice herself to decide,” he said.

The issue, first broached by Associate Justice Brion for his own psychiatric results to be publicly disclosed, is reported to be now subject of an investigation following supposed leakage on the results of the psychiatric examination of Sereno, having obtained purportedly a very unsatisfactory mark of four which JBC rules state this automatically disqualifies her from being in the shortlist.

During Monday’s meeting of the JBC, Escudero said the matter was not discussed and was not part of their agenda.

“From what I know, that remains still in the level of the SC, it has not reached us (JBC),” he said.

From the statements given by Escudero, it’s unlikely that the JBC will yield to such calls.

“Psychiatric records should be strictly confidential. It’s for the consumption only of members of the JBC, that’s why it’s not revealed to the public. It will now depend on the Chief Justice and the JBC (where she sits as chairman) on how they will treat the issue on the supposed leakage of the report, either before or immediately after she was appointed.

“This is the first time that something like this happened and has not been elevated to the level of the JBC, that kind of request, if there’s any. As I’ve said I think that is still at the level of the justices and not yet at the level of the JBC,” he added.

Meanwhile, a militant group critical of newly appointed Sereno has advised the chief magistrate to get her appointment papers from God, a day after Sereno said she was appointed by God.

The militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said:”If that is the case then she should get her appointment papers from God as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and present it to the Filipino public. Let us call a spade a spade. She should bravely admit it was her close association with Noynoy (Aquino) that gave her that much coveted SC post,” said Pamalakaya vice chairman Salvador France.

The group also belittled Sereno’s statement during the flag ceremony yesterday morning attended by court employees, assuring officials and employees of the high tribunal that they would be served, and that they should focus on work, and not on rumors, and promising to work hard to improve the judiciary, saying she was already excited to start instituting reforms.

“We don’t trust her. She is a protegee of President Aquino and she carried out what the landed Cojuangco family wants in Hacienda Luisita,” said France adding that skepticism is high on her appointment as Chief Justice.

The Pamalakaya official said it was Sereno who had asserted the Cojuangco sugar estate group to get between P5 billion to P10-billion in compensation for relinquishing control of the 6,453 hectare hacienda to farm worker beneficiaries.

“Chief Justice Sereno by political and moral standards is a protegee of Noynoy Aquino and a mercenary of the Cojuangco feudal aristocracy. How can social justice prevail under her reign? The sum of all our fears is that Sereno’s designation as chief justice might lead to grand reversal of the SC decision on Luisita in whole or in parts or might proceed to a runaway approval of the P10-billion compensation bonanza asked by HLI on Luisita case,” said France.

“We will not give Chief Justice Sereno the benefit of the doubt. At the start of her career as associate justice we all know and its public knowledge that she is Aquino’s main pointperson in the Supreme Court and she is bound to give her political benefactor Noynoy the fruits of his machination,” the group said. With By Angie M. Rosales, Benjamin B. Pulta and Charlie V. Manalo