Posted at 08/28/2012 10:10 AM | Updated as of 08/28/2012 1:09 PM
MANILA, Philippines – Newly-installed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Tuesday said she may have to decline radio and television interviews in an effort to bring the Supreme Court back to its "golden days."
In a press statement, Sereno said she has received several interview invitations from various stations since news of her appointment as the new Chief Justice broke last Friday.
However, Sereno said her wisdom led her "to seek to return the Supreme Court to its dignified days of silence – when its justices were heard when read thru their writings, and when the actions of the Court were best seen in their collective resolutions."
She said while she acknowledges the important role of the media, she is also pondering the implications of accepting interviews on the Constitutional role of the Supreme Court and the judiciary.
"The judiciary is not a political branch of government. Its role is unique among public institutions. It is constitutionally designed to be deliberate, accurate, sober and carefully balanced before arriving at its decisions and in the presentation of such decisions," she said.
"If the Supreme Court is to return to its golden days, then the Chief Justice must respectfully decline all these well-meaning requests for interviews," she added.
While she may agree to accept interview requests from various media personalities, an agreement would have to be reached "on how such fairness is measured, including on the order of schedules of various interviewers, length of interviews, and other operation concerns."
She said that to reach an agreement would only distract her and her staff from paying attention to the "more fundamental and urgent problems besetting the judiciary."
The Chief Justice said she is set to meet with various units of the Supreme Court tasked to engage with the media and the public. She assured that the Court will seek ways on how to best respond to the needs of the media for accurate and timely information.
The Court's spokesperson is tasked to deal with the media, but Sereno has yet to appoint a new spokesperson. The term of a spokesperson is co-terminus with the chief justice's.
In the long history of the Supreme Court, there have been only two spokespersons, the first being Ismael Khan, followed by Jose Midas Marquez. The latter was replaced by acting spokesperson Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra when Chief Justice Renato Corona was removed from office.
Sereno, the first appointee of President Benigno Aquino III to the SC, filled the lone vacancy in the SC created by the appointment of Associate Justice Renato Corona as Chief Justice.
She made history by being the first woman chief justice.
Sereno, 52, can stay at her post until she reaches the retirement age of 70, making her 18-year term as the second longest in the country's history.
The longest on record is the country's first Chief Justice, Cayetano Arellano, who stayed as chief magistrate from June 1, 1901 to April 1, 1920.
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Last Saturday,  was appointed as   Supreme Court in the , becoming the first woman to hold the post. She replaced , who was  last May. 

Philippine President  formally appointed the 52-year-old Sereno Saturday morning. With the post having a retirement age of 70, it is expected to see her serve one of the longest terms for the office.

Like the President, Sereno is also a graduate of . She continued her studies in  and .

Born on July 2, 1960 in , Sereno previously served as a legal consultant for the , the , the , and the  Policy Center. She had taught at the  for nineteen years 



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