‘Long way to go’ in fight vs corruption, injustice, says Sereno

While noting the Philippine judiciary’s initiatives in cleaning its own ranks, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Thursday admitted that the battle against corruption and injustice was far from over.

“It has been a very fruitful year, but we have barely scratched the surface. There are so many indicators of injustice still,” Sereno said during the 3rd CJ Meets the Press conference in Intramuros, Manila.

Despite the dismissal, suspension, and admonition of judges involved in corruption, Sereno said the judiciary still had a “long way to go.”

“If we can take away extravagance as a life goal for those aspiring to be members of the judiciary, then I think we will have a more proactive system of inculcating life values in the judiciary,” Sereno said, urging justice personnel to live a simple and “semi-monastic” life.

But Sereno said it could not be denied that aside from being influential, the judiciary had become more open and transparent to the public over the years, as evident in the disclosure of court documents.

“Before it was thought that we are a privileged class, beyond public scrutiny. We are opening ourselves more today,” she said, noting that “justices are no longer locked up in the court rooms.”

“It is a judiciary that has such an influence in the rule of law that two branches are so mindful that everything they do is constitutionally designed,” she added.

Saying that the Supreme Court would continue to make sure that the rule of law applied to all, Sereno said they had been meeting with certain groups “to be more proactive in fighting corruption.”

“If we show leadership at all times, the public may perhaps believe there is independence in our decision,” Sereno said.

“We have to be frank. Whether they are going to commit to the people, regardless of who appointed them, have to be independent. That takes a lot of soul searching on their part,” she added. Yuji Vincent Gonzales/RC