Words of Wisdom

Thanks to the Internet, I was able to come up with a short compilation of some words of wisdom from newly-appointed Supreme Court Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Aranal-Sereno. These ten quotable quotes were taken from the websites of Sunstar, Manila Bulletin, and Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“The judiciary can only be as effective as the trust that people have in it.”

“I will act and rule according to my conscience but not according to the dictates of any man.”

“We may disagree, but we will know how to agree to disagree in a very respectful manner and I think if we continue to engender this atmosphere of genuine discussion about the issues that are most important to our people, we can learn to gain each other's trust and maybe we can restore the faith of the people in the judiciary.”

“We are not tapping fully the potential of technology because in many jurisdictions, technology is used to bring about faster administration of justice and young people instinctively know technology, thus more social networking comes about, more information comes about, and there is no reason why it cannot be applied to judicial processes.”

“It must not be forgotten that there are many selfless people in the judiciary, they are just waiting for the greater sense of energy from a collectively mandated leadership and of course the chief justice is there to lead us and the associate justices are there to give him all the support possible so that reforms can really be felt immediately at the grassroots level.”

“We have the deepest imperatives of justice and that may depart from what the president wants but we must be able to show the independence of justice.”

“We have to convince people that this judiciary is willing to be non-partisan, non-political and that all our loyalties are only to the Constitution and not to any one person.”

“Gratitude has to be given to God….the promotion came from him alone. We have to ask God for blessings in this country because the work ahead of all of us is tremendous in rebuilding and restoring faith in good governance.

“Even if the judiciary functions on a normal day to day basis the way it has been doing the past so many decades, if there is no groundswell of support with people believing that it has kept faith with the rule of law, the constitution, and the deepest aspiration of the people, then it underutilizes its potential to be a strong stabilizing force and a platform for national development.”

“To the credit of the President, neither he nor any of his people have indicated to me, whether formally or informally, any wish other than that I uphold the rule of law That is most admirable in my view.”

Sources:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/weekend/peek-justice-serenos-thoughts
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/272833/new-supreme-court-associate-justice-ma-lourdes-a-sereno
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100816-287168/Sereno-among-opposed-to-Arroyos-move-to-appoint-new-SC-justice