Book Review
Title: Christian Framework for National Development
Author: Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno with contributions
from Paul Heherson M. Balite and Carlo M. Dino
Publisher: B1M Media Corporation
Number of Pages: 110 pages
At the outset, former Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno has made her intention crystal clear in her new book; she does not wish to create a theocratic state in the country. “It is rather, a call to apply the teaching of self-sacrificial giving towards building and democratic and humane society ruled by law and governed by truth,” said Mrs. Sereno in the preface of her new book titled “Christian Framework for National Development.’
In brief, CJ Sereno’s book is an attempt to provide a template on how to fuse Christian teachings in public governance. Mrs. Sereno specifically referred to the Holy Bible as the repository of time-honored teachings and passages that apply to governance. She said the 1987 Constitution contains provisions, which are essentially biblical in nature. The Constitution’s Preamble is a case in point, she said. Hence, Biblical teachings and the Constitution can be fused.
In the July 16 launch of her book at the auditorium of the University of the Philippine College of Law in Malcolm Hall, Mrs. Sereno said that her new book attempts to instill to public servants the Christian spirit in public governance. “Far from spiritualizing Christ’s redemption as consisting solely of the after-life promise of heaven – which is a definite assurance and reward for the believer – a Kingdom citizen seeks to concretely promote good on earth during his lifetime,” she said in laying down the basic premise of her book.
Ma. Lourdes Sereno is a 66-year old former magistrate, who has transitioned to become a full-pledged Christian Evangelical leader, who founded the Bawat Isa Mahalaga (B1M), a civil society organization that promotes Christian teachings in public governance, among other things. Essentially a corporate lawyer and law teacher, Mrs. Sereno was named by then President Noynoy Aquino in 2010 to become a justice in the Supreme Court.
Two years later, Aquino named her the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court although she was a junior magistrate. Her appointment, although legal because the President has the power to name chief justices, triggered complaints by the bypassed but more senior magistrates, who felt bad because they did not have the chance to become chief justices.
Her jealous and scheming colleagues in the High Court conspired with Gongdi for her removal as the chief magistrate. Because they did not have a case for an impeachment case against her to prosper, they resorted to a judicial monstrosity for her removal by the ill-conceived quo warranto proceedings. By a vote of 8-6, her colleagues removed her like a head of a social club. After her removal, CJ Sereno did not fight back. Neither did she attempt a comeback in public life.
She became a full pledged Christian Evangelical leader, spreading Christian teachings. Far from the sedate and sedentary lifestyle she had at the Judiciary, Mrs. Sereno moved around the country, talking to various groups from different backgrounds and sharing her Christian beliefs. As she told this author in an interview, she has found genuine satisfaction in her calling as a Christian leader. When the pandemic broke out, Mrs. Sereno and her B1M organization were at the front to help the sick. They also assisted families of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), particularly those from the Payatas area in Quezon City.
Mrs. Sereno’s new book provides a template on how a Christian public leader could use Christian teachings in governance, stressing that the Constitution is an essential anchor because it contains provisions that are essentially Bible-based. It contains the proposed Manifesto of Acquiescence, which stipulates to look at the Constitution and the Scriptures with “fresh eyes” for solutions to the many problems besetting the nation. It says:
“We, Filipino Christians, need to actively engage as part of the Sovereign Filipino people in order that the goal of establishing a ‘just and human society’ may be realized (Preamble, Constitution). We will do this by participating and contributing in every way we can, being called to be the first in manifesting that sacrificial offering of self and service that was exemplified by our Master and Savior.”
The new book also gives the so-called Twelve Declarations” of every Filipino Christian. The first declaration is about the “Lordship of Christ,” which stresses the basic belief of every Filipino Christian on the lordship of Jesus in all creation. The second declaration, “Active Members of the Sovereign Filipino People,” defies the mission of Filipino Christians as active members of the corporate entity identified in the Preamble as “Sovereign Filipino people.” As such, the third declaration, “Stewardship of Fellow Human Beings,” requires Filipino Christian to do the “utmost good to humanity.”
The fourth declaration, “Stewardship of Creation,” a virtual extension of the third, saying Filipino Christian are mandated to take care of the rest of creation. The fifth declaration, “A Nation under God,” is pivotal because it defines the role of a Filipino Christian to public governance. It says: “We do not espouse a theocracy – instead, our stewardship includes participating in the act of building a nation-state characterized by values of the Kingdom of God and the shalom blessing of peace, harmony, wholeness, welfare, prosperity, and tranquility.”
The other declarations are equally specific and straightforward to define the role of every Filipino Christian. The sixth declaration, “Promotion of Identity and Heritage,” speaks of the distinctive nature of human gifts from God. The seventh, “Justice and Righteousness,” seeks to interpret the dual role of Filipino Christians as citizens of the Philippines and Kingdom of God. The eighth declaration, “”Compassionate Society,” is equally profound as it requires the Filipino Christian’s dual citizenship to render compassionate service to the Filipino people.
The ninth, “Accountability,” speaks of Filipino Christians being accountable to one another and to the next generations, while the tenth., “Roadmap to National Transformation, says that such roadmap is rehabilitation and development. The 11th declaration, “Organic and Dynamic Use of this Framework,” requires the necessity to conceptualize specific forward-looking actions to acqualize what is being laid down by the framework. The 12th and last declaration, “Solutions from the Bible and the Constitution,” enhances the understanding of the fusion of the two sets of doctrines for nation-building development.
