MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno wasn’t very well-known in her years as an undergraduate in the Ateneo de Manila University.

“Wala nga po ako sa yearbook… kaya may nagtatanong sa akin kung totoo ba talaga akong graduate,” she said during a speech delivered at her alma mater’s celebration of the university’s switch to coeducation. 

(I’m not in the yearbook. That’s why some people ask me if I’m really a graduate of Ateneo.)

But Sereno, the first woman to hold the highest position in the Philippine judiciary, left the school with one clear message: to be a woman, an Atenean, and a Filipino, a person should commit selflessly.

READ: Scrutinizing Sereno, one year after

Reflecting on the event’s theme taken from the Chinese adage “women hold up half the sky,” Sereno said it doesn’t just mean fulfilling your half of the work.

“Ang buod talaga ng pagbuhat ng kalahati ng kalangitan ay isang pagtataya ng sarili,” she said. “Isang pangako na tuluyan nating itataya ang ating buhay para sa ating kapwa: sa ating mga mahal, sa ating bansa, sa mga nangangailangan ng ating tulong.”

(By holding up half the sky, it means you’re committing your entirety. It’s a promise to continue committing our lives to and for others: the ones we love, our country, those who are in need.)

The university’s achievments, she said, should not be measured only by the number of basketball trophies it has on display, or the number of Ateneo alumni holding influential positions in government and private corporations.

Instead, is should be about people whose lives have changes. “Ilang buhay ang natulungan nilang ihilop… dahil lamang ine-empty natin ang sarili natin para sa ating mga kapwa,” she said. (Count the number of lives we’ve helped just because we chose to empty ourselves for our fellow men.) 

Sereno said something similar last week during a rare audience with media. She said she pushes for reforms in the judiciary for the sake of people who suffer from its defects.  

WATCH: Sereno on reforms: It’s about people

Sereno’s Ateneo years

The Chief Justice, normally reserved and media-shy, was candid in a 15-minute speech delivered mostly in Filipino. Sereno entered Ateneo 3 years after the university first opened its doors to female undergraduates in 1973. 

“Lingid sa aking kaalaman noon sa aking murang eded na dise-sais, na ang mundo ng Ateneo ay magbubukas ng malawakang pag-iisip ng tao tungkol mundo,” she said.

(Little did I know at 16 that Ateneo opens your mind up to different things in the world.)

“Kasama na doon ang pagbukas sa mga magagandang katagang nanggagaling sa bibig ng kalalakihan. Kaya’t doon ko nga po nakilala ang aking asawa dahil habang tinuturuan ako ng math, iba na pala ang mensaheng sinasabi niya,” she quipped.

(Those things include opening up your mind to sweet nothings from men. I met my husband in Ateneo. While he was teaching me math, he was telling me other things too.)

Sereno was referring to her husband, Mario Jose Sereno. Sereno in the past referred to her husband as “her chief justice.” She was a Economics freshman while he was a Management Engineering senior when they met in college.

WATCH: #AskCJ

“Subalit, walang pagsisi,” the chief justice quipped. “Sinabi ko na po na ang Chief Justice ay hindi pwedeng magsinungaling.”

(No regrets. As I’ve said before, the Chief Justice cannot lie.)

Sereno ended her speech with a challenge to current Ateneo students.

“Maaaring makalimutan niyo ang mga hinagpis sa labas [habang nasa loob ng Ateneo]… [pero] ito ay panandaliang panahon laman kung saan kayo at aarugain, papagyamanin ang iyong pag-iisip at palalimin ang inyong mga puso para sa paglabas niyo sa kanyang bakod ay handa na kayong magtaya ng sarili niyo para sa iyong kapwa,” she said. 

(It’s easy to forget the worries of life outside. But this is only a short time when you’ll be taken care of, your minds and hearts nourished… so that when you leave, you’ll be ready to commit you life to and for others.) – Rappler.com