Sereno goes on sick leave, assigns Carpio as acting Chief Justice

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court has suspended the implementation of the November 27 resolution reopening the Regional Court Administration Office (RCAO) in order to first hear the side of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Sereno called in sick Tuesday and designated Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio to act as acting Chief Justice until she reports back to work.

Aside from suspending the reopening of the RCAO, the high court also ordered Judge Geraldine Faith Econg, Deputy Clerk of Court and Judicial Reform Program Administrator and Officer in Charge of RCAO, not to make any actions about the RCAO.

A newspaper report said justices were not consulted when Sereno opted to revive the 2008 RCAO project and is raring to confront her on Tuesday’s full court session.

On Monday, court insiders said Sereno personally talked to two senior justices to get their support on her resolution but the two did not budge.

Another court insider explained that under the Internal Rules of the Supreme Court, among the matters requiring en banc action include “all matters involving policy decisions in the administrative supervision of all courts and their personnel.”

With Sereno’s absence, the high court deferred the discussion over the issuance of resolution regarding the reopening of the Regional Court Administration Office (RCAO) dated Nov. 27.

Through Administrative Order No. 16-2008, RCAO was formally organized by designating the key officials to run the pilot RCAO in the 7^th Judicial Region (Bohol, Cebu, and Negros Oriental).

The RCAO project aims to decentralize the functions of the Office of the Court Administrator to facilitate judicial operations in major regions of the country. The pilot testing failed and the plan was eventually shelved.

Dec. 11 will be the last full court session of the Supreme Court.