oath

“As you enter on the execution of your office, I wish that you make good use of your family’s and our country’s patrimony of intangibles – the common heritage of moral courage and good judgment, which cannot be matched by any amount of affluence and can sustain you in the political road ahead.”

“Your parents, themselves public servants, bequeathed a lasting legacy and left an indelible imprint in the life of the nation. What better tribute to them than a life of selfless service to the Filipino people they so dearly loved,” Associate Justice Conchita Carpio Morales, on accepting President Noynoy Aquino's request to take his oath before her.

Justice Carpio-Morales was the lone dissenter among the SC justices that allowed President Arroyo to appoint the next chief justice, following Reynato Puno's retirement. She also declined to be included in the list of nominees as successor to Puno.