President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as the 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and first woman to hold the highest position in the judiciary.
Sereno will replace Renato Corona, who was impeached and convicted by the Senate last May 29 for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution because of misdeclared cash assets.
"The President believes that after the assessment and evaluation, Justice Sereno is the candidate who is most able to institute reforms in the judiciary. That is the only consideration that the President had in appointing the next chief justice,” Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters, adding the President also interviewed other candidates the past two days.
At the Supreme Court, Sereno promised to stay true to her oath "until the end of my term." She also thanked President Aquino for giving her the chance to lead the judiciary in the next 18 years.
"First of all, I give all the Glory to God. To the President, I thank you very much," she said.
She also thanked the media for "partnering with us in the judiciary" as she vows to give more lengthy statements in the next days.
Sereno will serve a term that will span four Presidents including Aquino because she will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 on July 2, 2030.
Barring impeachment, resignation or death, Sereno may go down in Philippine history as the second longest serving Chief Justice next to Cayetano Arellano, the country’s first top magistrate.
Arellano was at the helm for almost 19 years from June 1, 1901 to April 1, 1920.
Before her appointment as associate justice in August 2010, Sereno was executive director of the policy think-tank of the Asian Institute of Management in 2009; professor of law at the University of the Philippines for almost 20 years, and consultant for judicial reform of the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.
She handled various international trade and investment law disputes in the World Trade Organization in Geneva, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington D.C., and in International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration in Singapore and in Paris, employing bilateral dispute resolution mechanisms.
She was co-counsel for the Philippine government in its cases involving the bidding and construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
During the public interviews last month, Sereno mentioned God several times as bedrock of her work ethic as she summed up her judicial philosophy in three words: vision, courage, accountability. She said her leadership will be marked by willingness to create generation of judges who will commit themselves to life of uprightness. Sereno, a mother of two, said her life has been fruitful and exciting because of God.
"I rely completely on God. I cry out to him for strength, to be a public servant after God's own heart. It all depends on God whom I see from an eternal perspective," she told the screening body Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on July 27.
Sereno will replace Renato Corona, who was impeached and convicted by the Senate last May 29 for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution because of misdeclared cash assets.
"The President believes that after the assessment and evaluation, Justice Sereno is the candidate who is most able to institute reforms in the judiciary. That is the only consideration that the President had in appointing the next chief justice,” Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters, adding the President also interviewed other candidates the past two days.
At the Supreme Court, Sereno promised to stay true to her oath "until the end of my term." She also thanked President Aquino for giving her the chance to lead the judiciary in the next 18 years.
"First of all, I give all the Glory to God. To the President, I thank you very much," she said.
She also thanked the media for "partnering with us in the judiciary" as she vows to give more lengthy statements in the next days.
Sereno will serve a term that will span four Presidents including Aquino because she will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 on July 2, 2030.
Barring impeachment, resignation or death, Sereno may go down in Philippine history as the second longest serving Chief Justice next to Cayetano Arellano, the country’s first top magistrate.
Arellano was at the helm for almost 19 years from June 1, 1901 to April 1, 1920.
Before her appointment as associate justice in August 2010, Sereno was executive director of the policy think-tank of the Asian Institute of Management in 2009; professor of law at the University of the Philippines for almost 20 years, and consultant for judicial reform of the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.
She handled various international trade and investment law disputes in the World Trade Organization in Geneva, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington D.C., and in International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration in Singapore and in Paris, employing bilateral dispute resolution mechanisms.
She was co-counsel for the Philippine government in its cases involving the bidding and construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
During the public interviews last month, Sereno mentioned God several times as bedrock of her work ethic as she summed up her judicial philosophy in three words: vision, courage, accountability. She said her leadership will be marked by willingness to create generation of judges who will commit themselves to life of uprightness. Sereno, a mother of two, said her life has been fruitful and exciting because of God.
"I rely completely on God. I cry out to him for strength, to be a public servant after God's own heart. It all depends on God whom I see from an eternal perspective," she told the screening body Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on July 27.
