[Please check against delivery] Our Peoples Need to Believe in Judicial Excellence

Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno Chief Justice

Delivered during the Awarding Ceremonies of the 2013 Judicial Excellence Awards; 18 September 2013, Manila

[Salutations]. This afternoon belongs to the awardees, their families, and the Society for Judicial Excellence. It is thus my distinct role to convey the pride of the entire judicial family in the exemplary work that these awardees have given the people, and such work was made possible only because their families, their loved ones, and even their colleagues were there to cheer them all the time in the lonely and difficult road of rendering justice. Allow me to state therefore categorically, that the Supreme Court takes pride in this annual event to showcase the best in judicial performance as well as in allied services supporting judicial performance. At the same time, we are proud that we have a Society for Judicial Excellence that has taken it upon itself to search for and winnow the field of good men and women in the judiciary until at last it decides upon the years most brilliant gems of public service. The work of the Society is not the kind of work that will merit them income or even the plaudits of the public, but it is equally good, hard work; necessary for us to maintain the tradition of pride in excellent work in the judiciary.

I will keep this speech short, in keeping with my view that this afternoon belongs to the frontline workers of the judiciary the awardees from among our trial court judges and clerks of court. I simply would like to bring home three points. The first is that we must realize that the judiciary is in a critical place in its history. Since the time when the much-publicized media outcry over the so-called hoodlums resulted in the special investigating body created by the Court coming up with nothing, to claims that judicial independence had been compromised by politics, patronage and simple, downright corruption, we now have a golden chance to prove our detractors wrong. This is the time when a strong judicial spine must be demonstrated; in all humility, yes, but also in all firmness. It requires the courts to act with all deliberate dispatch, yet with care, especially in those cases where timely judicial action is of the essence. Every day, one can see complaints against judges being ventilated in news outlets, demanding that the Supreme Court take action against Judge A or Judge B. It is important that we prove to our people that even without pressure being applied by them, the judiciary by its own initiative is taking proactive measures to monitor our ranks and ensure that we continuously maintain the constitutional requirements for membership in the judiciary competence, probity, integrity and independence. I need not spell out for the audience what is currently taking place, what is at the front and center of the rage that our people are demonstrating, and its implication on the three great branches of government.

The second is that the awardees must not only have shown excellence in their work but must lead authentic lives of public service. Nothing can turn off the public more than the sad revelation, should it take place, that contrary to leading exemplary lives, our awardees are not leading the lives of modesty, temperance and humility that are expected from judicial awardees. The cry of the time is for authenticity in both our public and private lives. This authenticity of the life of service must be maintained until our awardees and each one of us public servants, finally are free from our oath of service. This is necessary, if we want to prevent the awards given by the Society for Judicial Excellence to be rendered for naught. We must maintain the luster of the award by maintaining the genuine luminosity of lives that are dedicated to the service of others. The third is that we must have a more purposeful strategy for making maximum use of the activities of the Society for Judicial Excellence in order to promote judicial independence. In turn, the judiciary must by provide the Society with even more useful data. Allow me to inform the audience that both the Judicial and Bar Council and the Office of the Court Administrator are taking numerous steps to ensure that the data regarding judicial performance are robust and accurate. Claims of actual case loads are being verified and the OCA team is reviewing the reporting system so that our data sets are reliable. This cleanness of data is important if we are going to have a fair, modern evaluation system for all judiciary personnel. I have also requested the JBC to look at whether the evaluations being made by

the Society can feed into what should be the definition of a good judge, the kind that we should recruit into the judiciary or promote from one rank to another. It will also help the JBC create a more scientific system for ranking applicants. The Societys work can in turn be retold in the form of more popular feature articles or other modes of dissemination to the public in order to restore the publics trust in the judiciary. I expect the winners to be willing to share, and be willing to lead in this march towards setting the judiciary as the gold standard for public service. Your many innovations will be inputted in the process reviews that are being currently undertaken at many different levels. This award is but a step to even greater responsibilities. You, the awardees, now have the mission of outperforming your best performance. To greater heights that the judiciary can climb, and to the leadership that is expected of this years awardees, we hail and toast this afternoon.

Mabuhay po kayo sampu ng inyong mga mahal sa buhay at pagpalain nawa ng Poong Maykapal ang hudikatura at sambayanang Pilipino!