NO MORE DIVISION. Sereno wants a unified judiciary for Christmas. Photo source: SC PIO

MANILA, Philippines - What does Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno want for Christmas? Unity.

"In the challenges we are going to face, I fervently pray for true unity, not only this Christmas, but also in the coming years," she said in a Christmas message she delivered before SC employees on Monday, December 10.

"Everything I do is based on the belief that all of us will have to render an accounting of what we have done in this life. My responsibility is to be your servant leader. I will do what I need to do in order to serve," she added.

The Sereno court was hit with problems of division. Senior justices that she bypassed supposedly did not immediately recognize her appointment. It defied tradition in the judiciary that the most senior justice gets the post.

Recently, the SC also overruled Sereno, suspending the implementation of a resolution she issued ordering the restoration of the regional court administrator's office.

Sereno was named Chief Justice at the age of 52. It means she can keep the post for 18 years because the mandatory retirement age for justices is 70. - Rappler.com