"SERENO'S APPOINTMENT IS GOD'S WILL"

New Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno says her appointment is the will God.  I agree!  Except that the God she refers to is none other than President Aquino.

Let's get real!  Kailan lang ba nag-umpisang magustuhan ni Pnoy si Sereno as future Chief Justice?  Di ba noon lang namang mag-issue ng dissenting view si Sereno saying the Hacienda Luisita should be valued One Million Pesos per hectare, against the unanimous decision of the 14 other Justices saying the valuation should be P40,000 lang per hectare, which latter valuation was based on the amounted that had been quoted by the Hacienda's own lawyers and duly recorded in Supreme Court files? I can more or less remember --- check it from your own news files -- what Pnoy said then: "It's Sereno's mold I want for a CJ" or something to that effect.

Indeed, it may well be said that it was that dissenting view that elevated Sereno to Pnoy's choice.  I am afraid, unless recalled, that dissenting view might also seal her Waterloo.

In her first public meeting with the Associate Justices, most of whom did not attend, and with the other employees of the Supreme Court, CJ Sereno was quoted in the news as saying: "I plead with you.  I understand your grievances and I wish to find solution to your grievances."  Indeed, she knows her subordinates' grievances, and she may even understand them.  But to find a solution to such grievances is going to be a sheer exercise in futility.

Methinks the Associate Justices' essential grievance is the sudden loss of their chance to become Chief Justice up until after Sereno retires in 2030.  That that loss has horrendously demoralized all of the other 14 Justices certainly goes without saying.   And such demoralization is principally what Sereno must first erase in their collective minds as her starting point to lead the reforms Aquino wish her to do in the Judiciary.  Let's be honest, at least to ourselves if we can't be to others:  Can Sereno do that?  Truth is, even Jesus Christ cannot.  By the way, let me explain why I always quote Jesus in arguments like this.  I really do not mean to blaspheme.  It's just that Jesus is both God and Man -- Dios na totoo at Tao namang totoo.  Therefore, as Man, He may not be totally immune from human frailties.

Before anybody gets me wrong, this is not a critique of Sereno.  In fairness to her, I think she has at least the minimum qualifications to be a CJ. And, believe me,  I have nothing against her, personal (I only know him by name), or otherwise.    I am simply speaking from the standpoint of plain common sense.  At any rate, I sincerely wish the Lady Chief Justice all the luck there is in Planet Earth.