Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno

Emily Sanchez Salcedo

Chapter 18 in Elgar Companion to Female Chief Justices in Comparative Perspective, 2026, pp 385-398 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The rise and fall of the first woman Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court were equally marked with surprise and controversy. Maria Lourdes Sereno's appointment to the highest position in the judiciary served as a powerful inspiration and encouragement for countless Filipino women to excel in whatever profession they had chosen for themselves. But the euphoria over the shattered glass ceiling in an institution steeped with tradition was practically short-lived, as the odds were stacked against her before the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court itself on a seemingly mundane shortcoming magnified by her fearless opposition to an authoritarian President. This chapter explores how Sereno was immensely revered by Filipinos who firmly clamored for and proudly celebrated women's rightful seat in the highest court of the land; how she was removed from office by her own peers on the Supreme Court; and how she will forever be remembered for the legacy that she created as the first woman Chief Justice of the Philippines.

Keywords: Glass ceiling; Feminist jurisprudence; Reproductive health; quo warranto; Woman chief justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308637
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035308644.00025 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22158_18

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().