SC justices void order of Sereno

MANILA, Philippines - Justices of the Supreme Court (SC) overruled yesterday Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno’s order creating a new judicial office in the Visayas.

An SC member told The STAR they agreed in full-court session to decentralize administrative functions, but not immediately as Sereno had unilaterally directed in Administrative Order No. 175. The AO created the Judiciary Decentralized Office (JDO) and reopened the Regional Court Administration Office (RCAO) in Cebu City.

“Everyone agrees to decentralization, but we have to specify what functions can and cannot be decentralized,” the insider said in a text message.

The source said all justices present in session – including Sereno – “unanimously agreed to issue a resolution creating a committee to study what functions can be decentralized.”

Sereno had issued the AO without the SC’s collegial approval, according to an internal memorandum of

Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.

Sereno had facilitated the reopening rites of RCAO after issuing her order.

In statement, the SC public information office (PIO) said justices were “of one mind on the merits of decentralization and have agreed on measures to ensure its effective and deliberate implementation” in their last full-court session for the year.

The justices unanimously agreed to create a committee that Associate Justice Jose Perez, former court administrator, will head “to conduct a needs assessment of decentralization.”

The PIO did not explain how the SC action will impact on an order of Chief Justice Sereno to create a new judicial office in the Visayas.

It was silent as to whether the SC order was tantamount to a revocation or suspension of Sereno’s order.

Another source, however, said the SC resolution would effectively overrule Sereno’s order.

Earlier, Associate Justice De Castro bared that AO 175 creating the new JDO and reopening the RCAO in Cebu City did not have collegial approval.

In a memorandum during a full-court session last week, De Castro asked other justices to recall or amend the order.

Under SC rules, the chief justice may issue an AO subject to the SC’s collegial approval.

De Castro said Sereno’s order deprived the SC – as a collegial body – of its constitutional duty to exercise

administrative supervision over the judiciary.

Sereno’s order infringed on the statutory duty of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) under Presidential Decree 828 to assist the SC in supervising the judiciary, she added.