Sereno told: Stop ‘ex cathedra’ talk

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 05, 2012 |

Senator Joker Arroyo said he did not believe that the chief justice of the Supreme Court had an “angelic status” and instead asked her to refrain from speaking “ex cathedra.”

 

Reacting to Sereno’s declaration that her appointment as chief justice “came only from God,” Arroyo said he hoped it did not mean that she thought she was all-knowing.

 

“When you talk ex cathedra that means infallibility. We hope she does not think that way because that is not good. That does not allow dissent,” Arroyo said.

In her flag ceremony speech at the Supreme Court on Monday, Sereno said her appointment was God’s will. She denied that her appointment was a result of political lobbying.

 

As a junior member of the Supreme Court, Sereno bypassed 11 other senior justices. She is President Aquino’s first appointee to the Supreme Court and the first female chief justice.

 

Arroyo, a former human rights lawyer and one of the senior members of the Senate, showed surprise when told about Sereno’s divine referral of her appointment to the Supreme Court.

 

“Anointed by God?” he said.

 

“She said God’s will. You see the subliminal [message]? Her faith can be mistaken for infallibility.”

 

But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said government positions did not require religious tests, and that non-believers could be appointed as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

 

“You can appoint a born-again Christian, or a Catholic. You can also appoint a Buddhist if he’s qualified. We have religious freedom in the country,” Enrile said.

 

Senator Francis Escudero said Sereno was just a religious person, and that he believed her religious beliefs would not infringe on her functions as chief justice. (END)