CJ Bersamin: Learn from the past to make New Year positive

MANILA, Philippines — Learn from experience and make positive undertakings in the coming year, Chief Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin said in his New Year message.

He said 2018 has tested the Supreme Court’s resilience.

“We encountered truly daunting and consequential challenges. Let us take the time to take stock of these challenges, and discern our experiences and learn from them guided by a renewed hope, fresh start and new vision,” Bersamin said.

In 2018, the high court was at the receiving end of criticisms following the ouster of Maria Lourdes Sereno through the controversial quo warranto proceeding.

The high court’s independence was questioned with the granting of the quo warranto petition initiated by Solicitor General Jose Calida.

Sereno was replaced by Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro who served for less than two months. Bersamin took over De Castro.

De Castro and Bersamin vowed to observe collegiality at the high court, maintain its independence and adhere only to the Constitution.

Bersamin vowed to “embark on new initiatives in accordance with our sacred task to promote justice and uphold the rule of law.”

“The New Year signifies a new beginning that we must fuse with a genuine effort for reformation and improvement – for ourselves, our families, our work and our country. We in the Judiciary are obliged to build on the positive undertakings of the past to bring about even more meaningful changes and make our courts more accessible, accountable, efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of the public,” he said.

“With God’s loving guidance and grace to “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5), may we all be instruments of His love, channels of His peace, and stewards of His justice so that we can all have a new year better than the last,” Bersamin said. /cbb