CJ Ma. Lourdes Sereno's decisions on labor cases

Tough, uncompromising, disciplinarian, and in full and unqualified adherence to the letter of the law. These are but few words that may aptly describe the first ever female Chief Justice of the land, the Honorable Maria Lourdes Sereno. She talks less and acts fast and decisively. She leads by example, publishing her SALN, which thus made it imperative for her older and more senior (in both age and tenure) brethren and sisters in the Highest Court to do the same. She comes to the office early and works hard. There are lot of backlogs to decide and dispose of. There are thousands of documents to study and sign, both judicial and administrative.

This lady has never been a judge like Justices Diosdado Peralta, Martin Villarama  and  Lucas Bersamin. She has never been a Labor Secretary like Justice Arturo Brion nor Undersecretary of Justice or Solicitor like Justice Roberto Abad. CJ M L Sereno has always been in the academe where no student would dare appeal from her pronouncements nor ever allege that she is grossly ignorant of the law. She has never been in corporate practice like Justice Antonio Carpio and the one who preceded her, the unlamented CJ Renato Corona. She is one of a kind, a “sui generis’’ in the language of lawyers and law students. And the Filipino people do not know her from Adam. Thus, it is important that we watch her. She is the fifth most important Filipino today, after the President, the Vice President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.

From the labor front, we have studied some of the decisions she wrote and we found one characteristic mark: she does not compromise, nor take exception from the law, nor attempt to qualify when the law does not qualify at all. To Her Honor, white is white and black is black. There are no ifs or buts. No matter who gets hurt. To her, it is not the function of the Court to make the law but to interpret it when the parties could not agree on the correct interpretation. It would appear then, based on her earlier rulings, that the Chief Justice is for judicial restraint and does not have the tendency towards judicial activism.

It might be too early to judge her nor be fair to make conclusions based only on one or few of her written decisions. Nonetheless, it is useful to examine her trend of thoughts from her written decisions. I have chosen one labor case, which might showcase her principles and values as a person and as a public official. In the case of COSMOS BOTTLING CORPORATION vs. WILSON FERMIN (GR193676), on June 20, 2012, she reversed the Court of Appeals which took pity on a forklift operator who was found guilty of stealing his co-employee’s cellphone. The appellate court, while saying that stealing is evil, also said that since the victim was not the company, that act could not justify dismissal from the service.

The Court of Appeals ordered that the employee, who was employed for 27 years, should be granted his full retirement benefits. Moreover, the appellate court ordered the Company to pay him his backwages from the time of dismissals in 2003 to 2012 or until the case is decided with finality. Chief Justice Sereno said NO.  Stealing is stealing regardless of who is the victim. And if it does not fall under fraud, breach of trust or serious misconduct, it should be considered an analogous act, which also warrants just cause to dismiss. And so, to the Chief Justice, when you steal, regardless from whom and no matter what amount is involved and even notwithstanding 27 years of service, you have to go, no retirement benefits, no backwages, no financial assistance.

There is no room for pity nor for compassion in cases of dishonesty. The law may be harsh but it is the law. Ito na yata ang daang matuwid. I recall the words of Justice Isagani Cruz when he refused to take pity on a PLDT employee who was found guilty of bribery. He said that there is no compassion or social justice for the corrupt. In effect, he wrote: Compassion is an imperative of every humane society but only when the recipient is not a rascal claiming an undeserved privilege. Social justice should not be made the refuge of scoundrels. Well, Chief Justice Sereno may not have the literary style of Justice Cruz. But definitely, this lady is one tough woman of the law. The other justices should be very much aware of this by now. The labor front is closely watching. And we are happy so far. Cheers.