God and CJ Sereno

Lowdown

By JoJo Robles

Columns are made by journalists like me. But only God—not even President Noynoy Aquino—can make a chief justice.

As for judges, according to the new chief justice of the Supreme Court, they are better read than heard, which was why they should maintain a “dignified silence.” Which was probably why, on her very first flag ceremony this week, seven of the fellow justices of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno took her word for it and skipped her inaugural address to the officials and other workers of the Court.

The justices’ reason for the staging the boycott seems to be to protest Sereno’s appointment over her more senior, more deserving, more experienced, and more “everything” peers. Had they stopped by, however, they would have heard Sereno herself explain how she got the job of chief justice even if they had every advantage over her.

Sereno had God on her side. And God (or Aquino) loves Sereno so much that He appointed her to the Supreme Court twice in the past two years.

Sereno didn’t actually say that; what she said was that her appointment to the high court “came from God alone” and not from some earthbound authority. A born-again Christian, Sereno said she was a “servant-leader” who has to accept “with much humility” her commission from God.

So the justices—especially those who applied for the position of chief justice but who were rejected— should stop this childish protest and get on with their work, as God (or Aquino) had intended. That’s what God’s spokesman—who looked just like Secretary for Something or Other Carandang—said, when asked about the supposed snub that Sereno received from her colleagues.

“We hope that everybody will give Justice Sereno a chance to prove herself,” said Carandang, speaking, I surmise, for God. “What I think is important for us, the public, is whether or not the justice system becomes more responsive to [our] needs.”

Forgive me; it can get really confusing, as Senator Joker Arroyo has discovered, if one accepts that Sereno was appointed by God, instead of by Aquino. “After the Chief Justice expressed her belief that she was anointed by the Good Lord as chief magistrate, I hope she would not think she has now infallibility in her judicial opinions,” Arroyo jokingly said.

But infallibility, to a limited extent, has always been a prerogative of the Supreme Court when it comes to matters of law as the ultimate arbiter of legal matters. This interpretative infallibility, however, can lead to the expulsion the chief justice, if God (sorry, the President) decides to start impeachment proceedings against him or her in Congress.

God giveth, after all, and God (or the God who is elected after the previous God) taketh away. Also, a servant-leader is defined in religious circles as someone who leads by doing even the most menial jobs and is not, as the heathen have suggested, the head waiter at Aquino’s favorite Grilla Restaurant in Greenhills or the “mayordoma” at Hacienda Luisita.

Joker was right. It can get really confusing.

* * *

A day after snubbing Sereno, the protesting Supreme Court justices decided they’ve had enough of “dignified silence.” In a noisy en banc session, they demanded to know the results of the psychiatric tests conducted upon the behest of the Judicial and Bar Council—tests where Sereno, even if she was God’s anointed, scored the lowest.

The story about the raucous Tuesday session (as well as Sereno’s scoring a failing “4” in the JBC’s psychiatric tests) was broken by the Manila Times’ Jomar Canlas. Canlas reported that the justices “invoked public interest [in calling for] the disclosure of the confidential [test] records”— as well as a justifiable personal interest, in the case of one senior justice who applied for the chief justiceship but failed to get it.

Associate Justice Antonio Brion had earlier asked JBC to give him a copy of his test scores; since the vetting council has refused, Brion is now asking the Court to compel it to do so. “Everybody knows the result of my psychiatric test, except me,” Canlas’ source quoted Brion as saying during the heated deliberations.

Sereno, according to Canlas, was mostly quiet during the deliberations, perhaps because she was still maintaining her version of a dignified silence. It could also be that Sereno was wondering how long her legitimacy would be questioned and what new basis would be used to make it difficult for her to do the President’s —excuse me, God’s—bidding.

But the results of the psychiatric tests conducted by JBC are important, according to my own sources, because they could be prima facie evidence of the illegality of Sereno’s inclusion in the council’s short list. After all, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who was widely believed to be God’s (sorry, Aquino’s) bet, was excluded on the grounds that she had pending disbarment cases—cases that, as De Lima correctly pointed out, were still not clearly identified as administrative (which would not disqualify her) or criminal (which would) at the time of JBC’s consideration of her application.

Sereno’s reported test results, on the other hand, were conclusive and should have prevented her from being included in the short list submitted by JBC to God (pardon me, Aquino). At the very least, the disclosure of the test results would certainly make Brion a happier man.

Of course, even if JBC allows the release of the test results, that does not guarantee that Sereno will be removed from office. Only God (and, yes, Aquino) can do that, it seems.