Carpio shows proof he complied with JBC's SALN requirement

MANILA, Philippines — Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio on Friday released a certification from the Judicial and Bar Council showing that he filed his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth from more than a dozen years.

The certification was issued upon the written request of Carpio addressed to the Executive Committee of the JBC, the body tasked to prepare the list of nominees for judicial positions to be submitted to the president.

The certification, signed by Jennifer Salvador, court attorney IV of the body, and noted by Jose Mendoza, the executive committee chairperson of the body, said that the JBC had on file photocopies of Carpio’s SALNs from 1992 to 1994 and from 2001 to 2011.

Carpio’s release of the certification came days after embattled Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno filed her comment on the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida questioning the legality of her 2012 appointment.

One of the grounds being cited by Calida in questioning Sereno’s appointment was her alleged failure to comply with the SALN requirements of the JBC.

In her comment, Sereno stressed that the submission of the SALNs to the JBC was not an absolute requirement, the absence of which would disqualify an applicant.

She also cited the case of her fellow applicants to the position, which included Carpio, who “failed to submit to the JBC one of some of their SALNs” but were found by the body to be in “substantial compliance” with the documentary requirement.

Sereno further said that of the 20 candidates for the position in 2012, 14 failed to submit to the body all their SALNs while in government service.

These candidates, according to Sereno, were she, Carpio, then Justice Arturo Brion, Justice Teresita De Castro, then Justice Roberto Abad, Rep. Ronaldo Zamora (San Juan), then PCGG Chairperson Andres Bautista, Soledad De Castro, then Secretary Leila De Lima, Maria Carolina Legarda, Dean Raul Pangalangan, then COMELEC Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, retired Judge Manuel Siayngco and Dean Amado Valdez.

According to his profile on the website of the Supreme Court, Carpio worked as a professorial lecturer at the University of the Philippines College of Law from 1983 to 1992, when former President Fidel Ramos appointment him chief presidential legal counsel with cabinet rank.

From 1993 to 1998, he was a member of the Board of Regents of UP. At the age of 52 in 2001 he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court.

Aside from the quo warranto petition, Sereno is also facing a possible impeachment trial at the Senate after the House Justice Committee approved the articles of impeachment against her.

The petition filed by Lorenzo Gadon, a lawyer with close ties to the allies of President Rodrigo Duterte, is moving for Sereno’s removal based on 27 acts which he claimed to constitute culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust among others.