Workers condemn Sereno appointment as CJ

Labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno condemned Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for appointing Ma. Lourdes Sereno as the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, saying the chief executive is out to secure his family’s interests in Hacienda Luisita and is desperate to implement his anti-worker and anti-poor policies.

Sereno, Aquino’s first appointee to the Supreme Court and relatively a newcomer to the legal profession, staunchly opposed the high court’s ruling ordering the distribution of Hacienda Luisita’s lands to farmers, asserting in her dissenting opinion that the valuation of lands be pegged at 2006 prices or equal to a P5 billion bonanza for the Cojuangco-Aquino family.

“What matuwid na daan (straight path)? Pres. Aquino’s appointment of Sereno is self-serving and is definitely bad news for the Filipino workers and people, particularly for Luisita farmworkers,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.

“Sereno’s appointment is a clear proof thatPres. Aquino wants to overturn the Supreme Court decision on Hacienda Luisita, or increase the Cojuangco-Aquino family’s compensation from the distribution of hacienda lands at the minimum,” he added.

“Pres. Aquino does away with all pretenses about judicial integrity in the Supreme Court and checks and balances in the government with Sereno’s CJ appointment. Sereno is an Aquino puppet who will surely approve all of the president’s anti-worker and anti-people policies,” he added.

The labor center said Sereno’s appointment exposes the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona as part of the Aquino’s campaign to takeover the Supreme Court and wield complete control over the government.

“It is becoming clearer and clearer: Corona’s impeachment is not about going after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her grave crimes against the Filipino people. It is about Aquino’s desire to keep Luisita in the hands of his family and to push through with his policies that allow foreign capitalists’ plunder of the country’s resources,” Labog said.

“Despite its rhetoric of making Arroyo accountable for her crimes, the Aquino government filed a weak case that paved the way for her eventual release from prison, and allowed her to enjoy a very comfortable hospital arrest,” he added.

“We are calling on the Filipino workers and people to be vigilant. Let us frustrate Aquino’s campaign to uphold the Cojuangco-Aquino family’s interests in Luisita and implement worse anti-worker and anti-people policies,” he said.