Talisay SP welcomes Sereno's appointment

CEBU, Philippines - The Talisay City council, in a resolution, welcomed the appointment of Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as the new chief magistrate of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, stressing that her appointment, being the first female Chief Justice, is yet another milestone in the nation’s history. 

City Councilor Aznar said “her appointment can lead and implement much-needed reforms in the judicial system” in the country. 

“The city commend and congratulate Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Punzalan-Aranal Sereno for being appointed as the 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,” the resolution read, which Aznar sponsored in yesterday’s council session. 

Last August 16, President Aquino made lawyer-academe Sereno his first appointee to the Supreme Court of the Philippines as its 169th Justice. 

Sereno, 52, has 18 years to serve as magistrate and is the youngest to be appointed to the Supreme Court. 

“Chief Justice Sereno is also the first female Chief Justice to preside over the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the highest judicial officer of the State,” Aznar said, adding that Sereno’s appointment proves the maturity of the bureaucracy and society in acknowledging the capability of Filipino women to be at the highest levels of leadership. 

CJ Sereno’s accomplishments include being a legal counselor at the World Trade Organizations’ Appellate Body Secretariat in Geneva and being the only female member of the 1999 Preparatory Commission on Constitutional Reform.

Sereno also wrote a paper on judicial reforms, which she did for the United Nations Development Program and was used as basis of a reform program of the SC in making justice accessible to the people. – THE FREEMAN