Sereno: Silence is not cowardice

MANILA, Philippines – The judiciary’s silence on legal issues involving controversial policies of the incoming Duterte administration is not cowardice, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said yesterday.

Speaking at the 118th Independence Day celebration at Quezon City Hall, Sereno said the public must be patient and “wait for proper time” before the judiciary joins the national discourse on pressing issues, including the plan of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte to restore the death penalty through hanging.

“We appeal for understanding on silence of judges, especially of the chief justice,” she said in Filipino.

“Let’s be fair; otherwise, judgment will come even before these issues reach the Court.”

Sereno said keeping mum shows wisdom for the people in the judiciary, especially on “new ideas” that are currently being pushed.

The public must see the judiciary as an institution and a pillar of accountability, a great feat for a young democratic country, she added.

Sereno said the judiciary is hard at work and completely ready for the Duterte administration.

Women should be confident in their position in society, as no leader would dare lower the standards that they are currently enjoying, she added.

The Catholic Church earlier took a similar stance on   Duterte’s tirades against the “most hypocrite institution” in the country. 

“Do we always interpret silence as fear of the cowards; the destiny imposed on the unwilling mute; the refuge of the guilty? It is not always so,” Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan Socrates Villegas, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president said in a statement last week.

Sereno said during her Independence Day message that heroism and courage should be pursued even in the absence of recognition.

“True bravery is to finish good things that you have started even if praises go to others,” she said in Filipino.

In an interview last Friday during the Supreme Court’s 115th anniversary, Sereno said legal issues on the death penalty are not yet ripe for the SC’s resolution.

However, she assured the public that the judiciary keeps a watchful eye on developments in the political arena. – With Romina Cabrera