Postscript to Sereno’s failed leadership

Assuming that former CJ Ma Lourdes Sereno did not deserve to be removed based on legal grounds, the fact remains she failed in the most crucial test of leadership; she was never accepted by her peers from the very beginning.

Stripped of all the legalistic gobbledygook, her ouster was a classic example of a failure in leadership. Whether by Quo Warranto or impeachment, the result would have been the same. She failed to lead, to get the support of her peers. She was unacceptable from the beginning and did not do anything to reverse this. In short, Sereno failed in the crucial crucible of leadership. Her stewardship of the Highest Court of the land was short-lived, unpleasant, and tension-filled.

This is the usual problem with many academicians, especially those from UP (of course, with many exceptions), they have this feeling of misplaced superiority, always claiming they have been taught Law in a grand manner. They usually think they have superior education coming from a superior Law school (well, in the last two Bar exams, UP did not make the Top 10). Sereno never had any experience leading a collegiate body of “superior minds.” She came from the classroom and Law professors always think they are the best in their areas. Just because they are brilliant lecturers does not mean they can lead a court of 15 men and women of legal erudition and high ego.

Of course, there are professors very good in human relations. I know at least two: Associate justices Lucas Bersamin and Diosdado Peralta. We taught together in the UST Faculty of Civil Law. Today, we are neighbors. Bersamin and I go to the same church together and sometimes, I administer the Holy Communion to him. Peralta and I go to the same market in BF Homes. We banter and joke as if equals. I also worked with Justice Francis Jardeleza in San Miguel Corp. where he was the Chief General Counsel, and I was the Deputy Chief For Labor Litigation. Francis was stern but deeply respected. But Sereno was an ivory tower academician. She never developed good relations with her peers.

Sereno was reported to bypass the court in matters normally requiring consensus decision-making. She made radical changes without consulting her colleagues. She was not even respected, much less loved by SC employees, not even a shade of the affection showered to the late chief justice Renato Corona. Chief justices Hilario Davide Jr., Marcelo Fernan, Artemio Panganiban, and Andres Narvasa were much respected and loved by the staff. Fernan and Narvasa were also academicians. Fernan was long-time dean of what is now the USJ-R College of Law, and Narvasa dean of the UST Faculty of Civil Law, but they were very people-oriented.

Sereno was a pure academician who became a square peg in a round hole. PNoy was wrong in appointing her chief justice. Leadership is not just a matter of legal competence but also (perhaps, more so) of skills in human relations. She might have been the best lawyer from UP. But being CJ is a different cup of tea.