Birth Name: Maria Lourdes Punzalan Aranal
Place of Birth: Manila, Philippines
Date of Birth: July 2, 1960
Ethnicity: Filipino (Boholano, Moro and Tagalog)
Maria Lourdes Sereno is a Filipina lawyer. She has been the 24th and current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, since August 25, 2012. At age 52, she became the second youngest and the first female to head the judiciary.
Chief Justice Sereno’s father, Margarito Mendoza Aranal, Sr., was a sales manager, from Siasi, Sulu. Her mother, Soledad Lansigan Punzalan, was a public school teacher, from Bay, Laguna. She is married to Mario Jose E. Sereno.
Chief Justice Sereno’s paternal grandparents were ? Aranal y Dalaygon (or ? Dalaygon Aranal in Filipino, the son of Eleuterio Aranal and Francisca Dalaygon) and Dominga Mendoza. Eleuterio was a native of Dauis, Bohol. Francisca was Moro, from Cantilan, Surigao (now Lanuza, Surigao del Sur).
Chief Justice Sereno’s maternal grandparents were Nicolás Punzalan y Galang (or Nicolás Galang Punzalan in Filipino, the son of Domingo Punzalan and Lutgarda Galang) and Simplicia “Plisa” Lansigan y Pantas (the daughter of Pedro Lansigan y Caldeo, or Pedro Caldeo Lansigan in Filipino, and of Francisca “Anda Iska” Pantas). Pedro was the son of Juan Lansigan and Aquilina Caldeo.
Source: Chief Justice Sereno’s birth record – https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJY-4KRF