SUPREME Court (SC) Associate Justice Samuel R. Martires on Wednesday defended his alleged “faith-shaming” against ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, saying his intention was to actually help her.
“It was not meant to shame her,” Mr. Martires told members of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) during his interview for the post of Ombudsman. He is competing with nine other nominees vying to replace outgoing Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who is set to retire on July 26.
Mr. Martires asked Ms. Sereno last April 10 in the oral arguments on her ouster petition if invoking God as a source of strength and happiness can be considered a mental illness.
Following the remarks, Ms. Sereno sought Mr. Martires’s inhibition from the quo warranto case against her, accusing him of “faith-shaming” her.
“I apologize to her. It was not meant to shame her. My intention was to actually defend her and that there is nothing wrong for a person to invoke God, to speak about God every minute of his life,” Mr. Martires said.
He explained the question was “a follow up” to the question of Associate Justice Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr. who mentioned bipolar disorder at the oral arguments.
“I did not faith-shame any person and never in my life have I faith-shamed a person, nor did I shame a person in public or even in private,” Mr. Martires told the JBC.
He pointed out: “I may sometimes utter bad words, but I never, never shamed a woman, either in public or in private.”
This was in response to a letter submitted last Monday, June 17 by a group of Catholic priests, evangelic pastors, and religious academics to the JBC’s Ex-Officio Chairman and Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio. The letter said Mr. Martires lacked probity for not inhibiting himself from the case.
Mr. Martires was one of eight justices who, in a landmark decision on May 11, ruled in favor of Solicitor-General Jose C. Calida’s quo warranto petition seeking to void Ms. Sereno’s appointment. The ruling was affirmed with finality and with the same vote on Tuesday, June 19.
Aside from Mr. Martires, the top magistrate also sought the recusal of Associate Justices Diosdado M. Peralta, Teresita L. De Castro, Francis H. Jardeleza, Lucas P. Bersamin, and Noel G. Tijam, the author of the decision, for allegedly showing bias and partiality towards her.
All six voted to grant the quo warranto petition together with Associate Justices Andres B. Reyes, Jr. and Alexander G. Gesmundo. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

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