Sharon, Vilma show up at SC

MANILA, Philippines - It was a star-studded day at the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday with celebrities Sharon Cuneta and Vilma Santos appearing before Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

Cuneta joined her husband Francis Pangilinan, who took his oath of office before Sereno as returning senator in the incoming 17th Congress.

They were accompanied by Cuneta’s daughter, actress-singer KC Concepcion, and their other children during the ceremony held at the SC dignitaries’ lounge.

Pangilinan placed eighth in the May 9 elections after garnering 15,955,949 votes.

He was first elected senator in 2001 and served until 2013. After stepping down, he was appointed chairman of Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization by President Aquino.

Santos was next to arrive at the SC for her oath-taking as elected congresswoman of the lone district of Lipa, Batangas, where she has previously served both as mayor and governor.

She was joined by husband Ralph Recto, who also took his oath of office as senator before the Chief Justice, and their son Ryan Christian.

SC employees took the opportunity to take photos with Cuneta and Santos, both popular actresses.

Sereno, meanwhile, will not administer the oath of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday.

Just like his predecessor, Duterte veered away from the tradition of the President taking oath of office before the chief justice as he chose his San Beda law school fraternity brother Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes to administer his oath instead.

In 2010, outgoing President Aquino also chose not to take his oath before the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona after questioning the latter’s “midnight appointment” by the previous administration.

He took his oath before then Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, whom he later appointed as Ombudsman.