The problems with Chief Justice Sereno
As a Filipino, a Roman Catholic, and member of the Bar, I believe Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is not a bad person, and, with all due respect, she has not committed any impeachable offense. Yes, she made a lot of errors and wrong moves, she failed in many aspects of her leadership but in totality all those errors in judgment were not out of malice or bad faith, but largely consequences of her lack of judicial experience, insufficient leadership skills, and inability to inspire respect and support from members of the court. But she has neither betrayed the people nor breached their trust.
The one to be blamed for her predicament today is no other than former president Noynoy Aquino himself, whose stubbornness and lack of due regard for the independence of the judiciary, succeeded in picking Sereno from the academe, along with Justice Marvic Leonen, with their youth and greenhorn enthusiasm. Aquino, like Marcos, broke the time-honored seniority tradition in the Supreme Court. It has been reported that Sereno and Leonen were not really accepted wholeheartedly by the more senior career magistrates. They still lack the depth of wisdom of such senior justices as Antonio Carpio, Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Mariano del Castillo, and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.
The problem with the chief justice is that, with all due respect, it now appears, subject to further validation that she does not enjoy the full trust or total support of the entire court, including the rank-and-file and the middle managers. Her predicament is even worse than that of the late chief justice Renato Corona who was supported all the way by the regional trial judges, appellate justices, and personnel. This lack of rapport with the people is allegedly very visible inside the court. The fact that justices Leonardo-de Castro and Francis Jardeleza among others have issues against the chief is an indication that everything is not very well and good inside the Sereno court.
Whatever happens to the ongoing moves for the proposed impeachment of the chief justice, the fact remains that members of her own court are not unified in their stand vis-a-vis the ongoing impeachment proceedings. If the relationship between her and the associate members of the court were only stronger and closer, this proceeding would not even survive the first round. At any rate, all opinions to the contrary notwithstanding, I still believe she has not committed any impeachable offense.
Her problem is simply her relationship with her peers, her inability to be accepted by her colleagues in the Supreme Court. If she could only address this with a sense of urgency and without sacrificing the dignity of her position, then this impeachment might not even see the light of day.