2 Supreme Court justices release statement of assets

MANILA, Philippines - Two Supreme Court (SC) justices have made public summaries of their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) amid questions on purported properties of Chief Justice Renato Corona to be tackled in his upcoming impeachment trial at the Senate.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno furnished copies of their respective SALN summaries to cause-oriented group Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership and online newsmagazine Newsbreak.

Carpio, Corona’s rival for the chief justice post in May 2010, bared in his information sheet that he had P47,269,928 in total assets and P75,000 in total liabilities for a net worth of P46,344,928 for the year 2010.

He also revealed his other properties and financial interests including one-eighth interest in the estate of Bernardo Carpio, one-seventh interest in the estate of Sol Carpio and a seventh of one-sixth interest in the estate of Lourdes Carpio.

Sereno, on the other hand, said she had total assets of P17,996,810.82 and total liabilities of P155,457.17 for the year 2009, for a total net worth of P17,841,353.65.

President Aquino’s first appointee to the high court who is reportedly being considered as “possible replacement” of Corona should the latter be convicted in the impeachment court, Sereno also declared total assets of P17,904,510.14 and total liabilities of P142,342.88 for a total net worth of P17,762,167.26 for the year 2010.

Carpio released his SALN summary last Dec. 21 and Sereno on Dec. 28, when the high court was in holiday recess and after the House already filed the impeachment complaint with the Senate, which includes the SALN issue in one of the eight articles.

But the two still did not release their complete SALNs with the detailed accounting of their properties.

In his reply letter to the requesting parties, Carpio said the mater of public disclosure of the SALN of justices and judges is presently under consideration by the high court based on the recommendation by the Special Committee to Review the Policy on SALNs and PDs, then headed by now retired justice Minita Chico-Nazario.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez explained that the justices did not release the documents pursuant to a 1989 ruling of the high court that spelled out rules on publication of SALNs of justices and judges.

He said this is the reason why Corona has not made public his SALN, although he already said he annually submits the document to the Office of the SC Clerk of Court as required by law.

“I understand what they come up with is just a summary, not the actual SALN. Again there’s a prevailing resolution on how to get that SALN so I don’t know if that’s the reason why instead of actual SALN, they released a summary of their properties,” Marquez told reporters.

The SC official reiterated that the Chief Justice has not responded to the challenge of the House prosecution panel for him to publicly disclose his SALN in deference to the impeachment court and rules governing the trial, including prohibition on discussion of merits of the case in public.

Marquez stressed that Corona opts to respect the rules on SALN the way his predecessors – retired chief justices Hilario Davide Jr., Artemio Panganiban, and Reynato Puno – did.

“If the Chief Justice releases his SALN now, the senators might be offended and say the trial is being rendered futile. So let’s just wait for the trial. We have full trust in our Senate,” he said.

Palace commends Carpio, Sereno

Malacañang commended yesterday the disclosure of the summary of the SALNs of Carpio and Sereno and called on other members of the judiciary to do the same and make the practice routine.

“The cause of justice can have no sturdier shield than the integrity of those who are tasked with discharging it. The decision of Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Maria Lourdes Sereno to release the summaries of their statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) upon the request of concerned citizens is commendable to the highest degree,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

He said members of the judiciary disclosing their assets had everything to gain from embracing transparency and accountability, noting that the Palace “believes that demonstrating faith in the Filipino is the best way to obtain and retain public confidence.”

Support for Corona

Meanwhile, support continued to pour in for Corona yesterday. This time, even critics of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo rallied behind the Chief Justice, whose midnight appointment by the former leader is still being questioned.

The Solidarity 4 Sovereignty, which earlier accused Arroyo of stealing the 2004 presidential election from the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., started a novena Mass at the steps of the SC building yesterday afternoon to call for the “independence of the judiciary to save our democracy.”

“S4S believes that our Constitution which is an expression of the sovereign will of the Filipino people has enshrined the checks and balances within government through the coequality of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government,” the group said in a statement. – With Aurea Calica