No Sereno order on attendance at flag-raising rites

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno has not required justices of the Supreme Court (SC) to attend the regular flag-raising ceremony.

Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra, SC spokesperson, has denied reports that Sereno issued a memorandum during her first week in office requiring attendance of SC officers and employees in the Monday morning rites.

“There’s no such memo requiring attendance of officers and employees of the court to attend the flag-raising ceremony,” she said. “The chief justice wishes to clarify that.”

However, an SC member of the court said Sereno ordered last Friday the issuance of a memorandum reminding each and every employee to attend the flag-raising ceremony at 8:30 a.m. on Mondays.

Senior SC justices continued to skip the ceremony over the past weeks since Sereno’s appointment in August.

Last week, only Associate Justice Jose Perez joined Sereno in the morning ceremony.

The 12 others were absent.

Court observers saw this as a protest since all senior justices were bypassed by her appointment.

SC justices had seldom attended the flag-raising ceremony prior to the appointment Sereno, who had attended less than 10 of them since she was appointed associate justice in August 2010.