President Benigno S. Aquino III Friday picked Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno as his first appointee to the Supreme Court.

Sereno took the Associate Justice position vacated by Justice Renato Corona after his appointment as Chief Justice. Corona replaced retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

“At 4:20 in the afternoon, the Office of the President sent to the Supreme Court the choice of the President for the new justice of the Supreme Court and we are pleased to announce the nominee of the President in the person Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a briefing.

Sereno was born on July 2, 1960 in Manila. She graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in A.B. Economics in 1980. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws (Cum Laude, Class Valedictorian) from the University of the Philippines College of Law (1984). She has a Master of Laws from the University of Michigan Law School (1993).

A faculty member of the Philippine Judicial Academy since 2000, she has taught Civil Law, Negotiable Instruments Law, and International Trade Law. She was faculty at The Hague Academy of International Law, Cambodia in November, 2004. She is currently Executive Director of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.

She was a TOWNS (Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) Awardee for Law in 1998.

Sereno was co-counsel with Justice Florentino P. Feliciano, of the Fraport case before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, D.C. and the PIATCO case before the International Chamber of Commerce-International Court of Arbitration, Singapore. Both cases were resolved in favor of the Republic of the Philippines.

Lacierda said the President does not know Sereno personally since the names of the nominees were submitted to him based on the Judicial and Bar Council's (JBC) practice of giving names to the President for appointments in the High Tribunal.

“I wouldn't be in a position to determine what was the basis but certainly if you go through the curriculum vitae of Professor Sereno, it is quite admirable. She has a thick list of all publications she made. Also, she has written international publications on synthesis of law. And she is a known international law practitioner,” Lacierda said when asked what was the President's basis in appointing Sereno.

“So she (Sereno) was very instrumental on our winning the case…if you remember, I informed the Malacañang Press Corps that the government was being briefed by the lawyers on the PIATCO case. She was one of the lawyers who briefed us on the recently concluded PIATCO case,” he said.