ISIDRO, LOIS EUNICE R.

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Profile of Chief Justice Sereno

By Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News

Associate Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno is the first appointee to the Supreme Court (SC)
by Pres. Noynoy Aquino and the youngest among the nominees for Chief Justice coming
from the high tribunal.

She was born on July 2, 1960; she is 52 years old.

She completed her law degree at the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1984 as Class
Valedictorian and cum laude.

As pre-law, she took up AB Economics at the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) where
she graduated in 1980.

She completed her secondary education in 1976 at the Quezon City High School, with
Honors; her elementary education was completed in 1972 when she graduated Class
Salutatorian from the Kamuning Elementary School.

She had her post-graduate degree at the UP School of Economics with the Master of Arts in
Economics Program which she finished in 1992. In 1993, she completed another masteral
degree, this time, Master of Laws, at the University of Michigan, Michigan, USA.

Justice Sereno was appointed to the Supreme Court on Aug. 13, 2010.

Professional background
She started her career in private practice as a junior associate of the Sycip Salazar Feliciano
and Hernandez law firm in 1986.

Starting in1994 up to 2008, she served as legal counsel of various government offices such
as the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Manila
International Airport Authority (MIAA), Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI), and WTO-AFTA.
Sometime between 1995 to 1996, she headed the Information and Public Division office of
the UP Law Complex.

Also, in 1995, she served as consultant for Judicial Reform of the UNDP, WB, and USAID;
she served in this capacity up to 2002.

From 1996 to 1999, she was Director of the UP Institute of Legal Studies.

In 1998, she was a counsellor of the WTO Appellate Body.

In 1999, she served as Commissioner and Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the
Preparatory Commission on Constitutional Reform.

Sereno was a lecturer at the Dept. of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Foreign Service Institute from
1996 to 2007.
She served as a lecturer in Electronic Commerce Law at the AIM in 2000, at the same time,
at the Murdoch University lecturing on International Business Law from 2001 t0 2002. She
also lectured on International Business Law at the University of Western Australia from 2003
up to 2007.

In 2004, she was a lecturer on International Trade Law at the Hague Academy of
International Law.

She was a longtime professor at the UP, teaching for 20 years, from 1986 to 2002.

She became the Executive Director of the AIM in 2009, a post she held on to for a year.

Sereno became president of ACCESSLAW, Inc. in 2000, a post she continues to enjoy up to
the present.

Awards, other credentials

In her 25 years as a lawyer and educator, Sereno received the following awards:

- 1998 Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service

- 2000 Most Outstanding Alumna Award, Quezon City High School
- 2003 Most Oustanding Alumna Award, Kamuning Elementary School
- 1991 Provincial Citation, Camarines Sur

She was also able to edit the book, Thirty Years and Beyond (UP Law, 1997).

Sereno was the key writer on Law and Economics and the Constitution and Judicial Review
of Economic Decisions.

She also drafted the legal framework for the operations of the first paperless trading of
securities in the country for the Bureau of Treasury (BT).

Endorsements for Chief Justice, oppositions

Sereno was not automatically nominated for the top judicial post for being one of the most
junior magistrates of the Supreme Court, rather, she was nominated by the following:

- Felma Roel Singco (June 13, 2012)

- Reagan De Guzman (June 13, 2012)
- Atty. Fidel Thaddeus Borja (June 14, 2012)
- Attys. Jordan Pizarras, et al. (June 15, 2012)
- Christian Legal Society through Atty. Salvador Fabregas (June 14, 2012)
- Bishop Efraim Tendero (June 18, 2012)
- UP Women's Circle (June 13, 2012)

11 lawyers to represent Sereno at impeachment hearing

By: Christine O. Avendaño, DJ Yap, Vince F. Nonato - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / November 22, 2017

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will not face her accuser when the House justice
committee resumes hearings on the impeachment complaint against her on Wednesday,
despite the insistence of the chamber’s leadership that she face the charges against her
personally.
Instead, Sereno executed a special power of attorney authorizing 11 lawyers to represent
her at the hearings and telling the House justice committee that they may act on her behalf
and exercise her rights, including cross-examining witnesses.
Sereno’s spokesperson, Josa Deinla, said she would not show up at the hearing on
Wednesday, but would “attend the hearing through her counsel.”

“The representation of her counsel has been her position ever since the impeachment case
was filed against her. This is consistent, as we have said in the past, to what is stated in the
House rules and the Constitution,” Deinla said.
Sereno appointed as her attorneys-in-fact Alexander Poblador, Dino Vivencio Tamayo,
Anzen Dy, Justin Christopher Mendoza, Carla Pingul, Sandra Mae Magalang, Jayson Aguilar,
Oswald Imbat, Enrico Edmundo Castelo II, Charles Richard Avila Jr. and Patricia Geraldez.
In a letter to the House justice committee, Sereno said she was authorizing the lawyers “to
act for and in my name and stead and to exercise my rights and to otherwise protect my
interests in all stages of the impeachment proceeding.”

‘She’s insane’
Rejecting Sereno’s insistence on representation by counsel, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez
called her “insane.”
“She’s insane. It’s as if she’s not a lawyer. She knows it’s an impeachment case and she’s
the one being impeached, not her lawyers,” Alvarez said in a radio interview on Monday, a
transcript of which was provided to House reporters.
“This is personal. She must appear here and explain. She must face [the justice committee]
and explain her side,” he said.
Sereno’s lawyers have repeatedly asserted her right to confront her accuser and the
witnesses through counsel, but Alvarez and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, the
justice committee chair, have insisted she must do the examination herself.
On Tuesday, Alvarez said the House would not honor any Supreme Court decision if Sereno
asked the highest tribunal to block her impeachment.
“We will not honor it, we will not honor it,” Alvarez said at a forum on judicial reforms.
The 1987 Constitution is clear that the House has “exclusive jurisdiction … to hear and to
accept impeachment cases.”
He said the House rejection would not cause a constitutional crisis because the legislative
branch had the power to check abuses in the judiciary.
Sereno is just afraid of her own ghost, he said.

Nature of impeachment
If she has nothing to fear, she will appear at the hearing, he added.
Retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who was at the same forum, said Sereno could not go
to the Supreme Court for remedy if the nature of her impeachment case was political.
Puno said it was important to clarify the nature of the impeachment case, whether it was
political, judicial or quasijudicial.
“If it’s a purely political question, she cannot go to the [Supreme Court]. But if it’s not
purely political and in a limited way, she could go to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Puno said he did not know whether Sereno’s impeachment case was political. This should be
determined “initially” by Congress, he said.
If it is purely political, “the legislators will be answerable only to the people,” he said. “They
will not be answerable to any branch of government.”
Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon brought the impeachment complaint against Sereno, accusing the
Chief Justice of misdeclaring her finances, excessive use of judiciary funds, falsifying court
resolutions and manipulating the processes of the Judicial and Bar Council, among other
allegations.
Earlier, the House justice committee found the complaint sufficient in form and substance
and deemed it had sufficient grounds.
On Wednesday, the panel will determine whether there is probable cause to impeach
Sereno.
A vote of one-third of the 293 members of the House is needed to send the case to the
Senate for trial.

‘Voice of reason’
Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday renewed their call to be allowed to take part in the
impeachment proceedings.
In a press briefing, the opposition lawmakers said their arguments should at least be
discussed on the justice committee.
Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin said the opposition bloc wanted to be “the voice of reason”
in the proceedings, especially since the complaint against Sereno was endorsed by members
of the supermajority and the recognized minority groups.
“What will happen is that both the majority and the appointed minority will just go through
this process as a [charade]. We don’t want [a charade],” Villarin said.
“They have the numbers, but the arguments should be heard from both sides. It appears
that they want only their arguments to be heard,” he said.
“We should be allowed to participate on behalf of our constituents,” said Albay Rep. Edcel
Lagman.
Since the justice committee’s actions would be subject to approval or rejection by the House
plenary, lawmakers who do not belong to the panel should be allowed to participate so they
“can have an informed vote,” Lagman said.
He said barring nonmembers from the impeachment hearing would be “anathema to a
deliberative assembly.”
Villarin said excluding the opposition from the proceedings would be “oppressive and
nondemocratic.”

Reaction on the Impeachment of Chief Justice Sereno.

In my Opinion, I think that Chief Justice should be given a chance to prove herself to the
whole Supreme Court. Even if she was appointed by our former President Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III, she was not just placed there because the He wanted to, she was placed there
for a reason that the president saw a great deal in her that could probably handle that kind
of position. On the other hand, She gravely accused the President with false facts that the
current President Rodrigo Duterte was part of some crime involving his son. When in fact
there were no information or facts on the said accusation. Another thing to be considered on
why she needs to be taken down from the position is that she is not that experienced to
handle that position. The supreme Court has a policy that states that the chief justice to be
in position should be well experienced and has a great deal of knowledge at age. Since
Sereno is not fit in that criteria there is doubt that she would be able to keep the balance in
the Supreme Court. As a Resident this also concerns us because it talks about decisions
being made not only in the courts but would also affect the society meaning us.

For me, I think that we should be mindful on the acts that we are implying on anyone. For
now, It’s a maybe for me cause there is an equal reason for Sereno to be impeached and an
equal amount of reasons for her to stay in power. I just wish that the Court will make the
right decision.