Sereno made to feel it’s lonely, chilly at the top
By EVANGELINE DE VERA
IT’S lonely at the top, and it might be a little chilly for now.
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is apparently finding this the hard way as she continues to get the cold shoulder from her colleagues at the Supreme Court.
During the full-court session yesterday, senior magistrates rallied behind Associate Justice Arturo Brion in seeking to compel the Judicial and Bar Council into releasing its report on the psychiatric and psychological evaluation of aspirants for the chief justice post.
A court source said Brion argued that since the JBC report had already been leaked to the media, there is no longer any point in keeping his psychological records a secret from him. The leaked report showed Brion got a grade of “3,” which means that his test result was “satisfactory.”
“Everybody knows already (the result of) my psychiatric test, except me,” the source quoted Brion as saying. Brion, like Sereno, was among eight shortlisted by the JBC for the post.
Sereno reportedly obtained a “4,” which means that she flunked the psychiatric tests, and thus, should not have been shortlisted for the CJ post.
Most SC justices, led by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, seconded Brion’s request, saying the result of the psychiatric exams is imbued with public interest.
Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro argued 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.
Sereno, however, blocked the move of the justices to take a vote on Brion’s request, and instead, she asked the en banc to defer ruling on the case until the next en banc session next Tuesday to give her time to discuss the matter with other members of the JBC, of which she is the ex-officio chair, in their next meeting on Monday.
The JBC earlier denied Brion’s request for a copy of the psychiatric report, citing the confidential nature of the exams. This prompted Brion to bring the matter before the SC.
The animosity apparently did not end at the en banc, but continued during lunch when only a handful of justices attended – Sereno, and President Aquino’s two other appointees Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Mariano del Castillo, Jose Catral-Mendoza and Jose Perez.
Traditionally, justices meet over lunch after a regular session, and where differences in opinion are momentarily set aside.
And it was not the first time that Sereno was apparently rebuffed by other justices.
During her oath taking in Malacañang last August 25, a day after the Palace announced her appointment, only Justices Martin Villarama Jr., Bernabe, Del Castillo and Reyes turned up.
Last Monday, only six of the 14 justices were present during her first flag-raising ceremony at the SC grounds. Traditionally, magistrates would show their support to the newly appointed chief justice by appearing at his or her side during this time, to send the message to court employees that the judiciary is united under one leader.
In Sereno’s case, though, the magistrates appeared to be less than discreet in showing their displeasure with their new chief.
With Sereno during the flag ceremony were Justices Roberto Abad, Del Castillo, Catral-Mendoza, Perez, Perlas-Bernabe and Bienvenido Reyes.
Absent were Carpio, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Martin Villarama.
TRADITIONS
Court insiders attributed the seeming cold treatment to the fact that Sereno’s appointment broke just too many court traditions, and according to several accounts, she does not get along very well with her colleagues even when she was still an associate justice.
Abad, in a separate opinion in the case of the travel ban on former President Arroyo, even criticized Sereno’s disclosure of court deliberations in her dissenting opinion, something other justices frowned at.
Abad further said Sereno has the habit of submitting her dissent belatedly, waiting for other justices to submit the majority decision or separate opinions so that she could counter what was written there in her own dissenting opinion.
“Subsequently, Justice Sereno wanted her belated dissenting opinion promulgated on Dec. 2, 2011. But since her demand for late and separate promulgation departs from established procedure, the author of the main Resolution asked that such opinion be calendared for En Banc consideration. She, however, sees this as a suppression of her right to submit a dissenting opinion. Ultimately, the En Banc decided to break precedents and allow the late promulgation of her dissent together with the concurring opinions of the rest of the members of the Court, like this one, to fairly present a fair picture of the problem that Justice Sereno has created by her failure to abide by simple agreement and the rules,” Abad said in his opinion.
Though her appointment as the first female chief justice is historic, it would also see the end of many aspirants’ dream of someday becoming the court’s “primus inter pares” because Sereno is seen to serve for 18 years until her retirement.
SENIORITY
Another tradition set aside with her appointment was the bypassing of the most senior justice for the CJ post, to give way for one of the most junior magistrate, who only clocked two years in the high court.
If the seniority rule were followed, Carpio would have been the chief justice, being the most senior among the “insiders.”
However, it was Arroyo who first broke this tradition, when she appointed now retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban over Reynato Puno, and lastly, Corona over Carpio.
Ramon Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, said he “would not speculate” on the reasons the justices were absent during the flag ceremony.
“Well we don’t know if there is a rift…I think what’s important for us, the public, is whether or not the justice system becomes more responsive to the needs of the public,” he said.
Carandang also said that for Malacañang, Sereno was widely received and “perceived as a positive thing that caps the drama over the impeachment trial of the former Chief Justice Renato Corona.”
ANOINTED?
Sen. Joker Arroyo twitted Sereno for proclaiming last Monday that her appointment was part of God’s plan.
“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,” Arroyo told reporters.
He also said Sereno’s proclamation is not good for democracy because it does not allow dissent.
Senators Panfilo Lacson and Edgardo Angara said Sereno should reach out to other members of the judiciary.
Angara said it is not good for the institution that there is an obvious disagreement among the members.
Lacson reminded Sereno that she, even as she is the chief justice, could not demand respect among justices.
“Ang respect is something you earn. It is not something you can demand. Hindi ninyo pwede i-demand irespeto ninyo ako dahil ako ang CJ,” Lacson said.
“At saka maski CJ ka iisang boto ka rin,” he said.
OFFER DECLINED
Also yesterday, Sereno tried to reach out to court administrator Jose Midas Marquez by asking him to speak for the court as “communicator on judicial reforms.”
A source said Marquez, who had been the spokesperson for the court from the time of former chief justices Puno to Corona, declined Sereno’s offer, so that the post went to deputy court administrator Raul Villanueva.
Marquez and Sereno last year locked horns when she accused the court spokesman of not telling the truth about the voting of justices in the government’s motion for reconsideration on the SC’s ruling to declare unconstitutional the watch-list order issued by the Department of Justice against Arroyo.
Villanueva, a former Las Piñas regional trial court executive judge, was tapped by Sereno to inform the media about the en banc’s unanimous approval of the revision of the rules on the submission of judicial affidavits before the courts, as contained in Administrative matter No. 12-8-8-SC.
Acting court spokeswoman Gleo Guerra said several spokesmen will be appointed in various capacities to answer media queries.
As deputy court administrator, Villanueva has supervision and administration over lower courts in Judicial Regions 1, 2, 6, 9, and 10. During his briefing with media, Villanueva declined to answer questions from the press. When he allowed reporters to ask clarificatory questions, he requested cameramen from TV news teams not to record the question-and-answer portion of his briefing.
“I will just announce (the judicial reforms), but I will not entertain questions,” he said. – With Jocelyn Montemayor and JP Lopez
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