SUPREME Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno asked the court workers not to give up when the difficult time comes.
Sereno, after the forum with the students at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos in Bacolod City on Tuesday, March 13, spoke at the 11th National Convention and Seminar of the Philippine Association of Court Social Workers Inc. which kicked off at L' Fisher Hotel.
She said: "I know how hard and difficult your life is as court social workers. You are placed in the forefront, absorbing the emotional toll of dysfunctional families whose cases are being brought to family courts. But I ask you not to give up because it is difficult.”
She added: “Let us do our work despite the difficulties. I cannot tell you to sacrifice if I don't sacrifice myself. I cannot tell you to carry your cross if I don't carry mine with you. Don't be hopeless. Let's get our strength from God. The dawn will still come.”
Family cases are the most difficult cases because the human element is always there, she said. “You have your own problems especially with your children at home. But you come to the courts early in the morning and face the problems of other children. Why do you need to absorb the problems of other parents when you have your own problems, too?”
And you cannot just turn your back on your calling as court social workers, she added.
“The millennial child will not always cooperate when you want to talk to them. How can you convince the child to talk to you when your rival is the Youtube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? But never give up, never lose hope as we are behind you,” she said.
She promised to help them uplift their economic well-being by working on how to increase their salary and benefits.
Meanwhile, San Carlos Regional Trial Court Branch 59 Judge Katherine Go, president of Negros Occidental Regional Trial Court Judges Association, said their group supports the rule of law and the observance of due process insofar as the move to impeach Sereno.
She said they came out with a statement after they consulted the members. “There were three judges who refused to associate their names in the statement signed by 18 judges in the province and that is fine. That’s the essence of democracy for us,” she added.
“I told my fellow judges in the province that we might have divergent opinions but we respect each other’s opinion. Let us just live it like that. We agree to disagree,” she added.
The work of the judges is to uphold the rule of law and that is what we should focus on, she said.