Sereno’s SALN missing from UP records
Eight of the nine statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), from 2001 to 2009, of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno are missing from the records of the University of the Philippines, where she was employed prior to her Supreme Court (SC) appointment in 2010.
This was discovered by the justice committee of the
House of Representatives headed by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali during yesterday’s hearing, where UP record custodians declared that only Sereno’s 2002 SALN was in their files.
“Isn’t that unusual? Don’t you find it unusual?” deputy speaker Ferdinand Hernandez asked Rosemarie Fabiona, head of the UP records section, who replied: “I can only answer (on queries for) 2014 because this was when I became custodian of the records.”
Fabiona’s superior, Angela Escoto of the UP human resource department office, admitted to lawmakers that she could not recall any instance where UP professors failed to file and submit their SALNs, which the HRDO turns over to the ombudsman every year.
“Not that I know of, your honor,” Escoto, UP-HRDO head for the past 10 years, told House deputy speaker Gwen Garcia, adding that she could not remember if there were sanctions for non-submission as there never was a time that SALNs weren’t filed.
Escoto said the best way to find out is to check with the ombudsman.
“As far as our records are concerned, we checked her 201 File and that’s what we found (the 2002 SALN). Perhaps you can find (the rest) in the ombudsman,” she said.
The committee is in the process of finding out whether the impeachment complaint of lawyer Lorenzo Gadon has probable cause, considering that he accused Sereno of concealing her reported P37 million in lawyer’s fees when she handled Philippine International Air Terminals Co. case prior to her SC post.
Umali issued a subpoena to the ombudsman to furnish the justice committee copies of Sereno’s SALNs, to produce her SALNs from 2001, 2003 up to 2009.
Escoto hinted that her predecessor Dakila Fernando may have turned everything over to the ombudsman during her watch.
But Rep. Eugene de Vera of party-list ABS, a career lawyer at the House prior to joining politics, pointed out that all of the SALNs of every public official are contained in “one envelope only,” which means Sereno’s should have been lumped together in one single file.
“If only to show you how important the filing of SALN is: a former governor who was appointed to the Commission on Elections was rejected by the Commission on Appointments simply because he didn’t file his SALN for four consecutive years,” he said.
“How much more for a Chief Justice?” the administration lawmaker asked Escoto.
Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, himself a lawyer and a former police general, related that he himself once had an administrative case over SALN.
“It’s really a wonder. I don’t see any reason why a member of academe is not filing her SALNs,” Acop said.
Gadon told the justice committee that Sereno received such hefty lawyer’s fees between 2004 to 2009, which should have been declared in 2010. He said these should have been reflected in her real properties, cash deposits in banks or investments, among others.
Lawyers, CHR exec warned of contempt
In a related development, the justice committee upon the motion of Garcia and seconded by Rep. Dante Marcoleta of party-list Sagip, warned two lawyers of Sereno, along with Commission on Human Rights commissioner Roberto Cadiz, of possible contempt charges.
Defense counsels Joshua Santiago and Aldwin Salumbides with Cadiz were given 72 hours to submit in writing an explanation why they should not be cited for contempt for issuing statements that House impeachment hearings are nothing but a farce.
Sereno’s lawyers were quoted extensively in a Nov. 26 newspaper article describing the proceedings as a “dog and pony show,” while Marcoleta took offense to Cadiz’s pronouncements that such hearings are “governed by the law of the jungle.”
Umali assured resource persons, which may include SC Associate Justices Teresita Leonardode Castro and Noel Tijam and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, that they will be given specific dates and time when they would be asked questions, supposing they appear.
“We will invite them one at a time and on a particular date para naman hindi masayang ang oras nila (so their time isn’t wasted). There will be an allocation of one hour each per charge,” he said yesterday.
Reporter insists SC justice not his source
The Manila Times senior reporter Jomar Canlas yesterday testified and denied claims by Gadon that De Castro was the source of his June 2013 exposé regarding Sereno’s alleged tampering of a temporary restraining order of a senior citizens party-list.
“I hereby deny that I intimidated to attorney Gadon that my source was Justice de Castro. I have not revealed my sources to anyone,” the journalist, accompanied by his lawyer Joseph Noel, told the justice committee.
Canlas invoked the Sotto Law (Republic Act 1477) protecting media practitioners from being compelled to identify their sources, unless it is a matter of national security, which the Sereno impeachment is not.
Gadon was later forced to retract or rather play it safe, considering that both De Castro and Canlas disowned his allegations about the article, which Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, a former Court of Appeals justice, described as an “independent relevant evidence.”
Garcia highlighted the importance of Canlas’ article and testimony, saying a forgery could have been committed by Sereno, which is an express or culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution and thus a ground for impeachment.
Aguirre set to testify vs CJ
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is set to testify today in the impeachment proceedings against Sereno.
In an ambush interview yesterday, Aguirre confirmed that he has accepted the invitation of the House committee on justice.
Aguirre was invited by the House panel to shed light on the allegation that Sereno delayed the transfer of rebellion cases against arrested members and supporters of the Maute terrorist group from Marawi City to a court in Metro Manila.
Gadon accused Sereno of manipulating and delaying the resolution of Aguirre’s request for transfer of the Maute cases.
The allegation stemmed from Aguirre’s request to Sereno last May for the transfer of the cases due to security concerns and lack of adequate detention facilities in Marawi.
Last June 6, the SC acted on the request and assigned the Cagayan de Oro Regional Trial Court to hear, try and decide all cases and incidents in connection with the Marawi attacks despite recommendation from the Office of the Court Administrator to have the cases tried in a court in Metro Manila.
Aguirre appealed the order, citing the security concerns of prosecutors assigned to conduct inquest proceedings and appear in the trial of cases and lack of adequate facilities inside Camp Evangelista, the headquarters of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division.
He requested the SC to assign the cases to a regional trial court in Taguig City. His appeal was granted last June 27 but it was only made public by the SC on July 18.
“Sereno has been delaying the issuance and release of the resolution because she failed to get a majority vote on her desire to keep the Maute and similar cases in Cagayan de Oro City, to the detriment of the service,” the impeachment complaint stated.
“Indeed, the intentional delay on the part of respondent Sereno to issue and release the much-awaited resolution, only because she has lost in the vote, is another count of culpable violation of the Constitution,” the complaint further alleged.
Sereno denied this allegation, one of the 27 charges in the impeachment complaint against her, saying it was false and based on hearsay.
Sereno explained her position on the matter in the reply to the impeachment complaint she earlier submitted to the House, claiming that detaining the Maute members at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, which is a few kilometers away from urban centers, “may have a substantial effect on the economy and on public safety.”
“Any supposed ‘delay’ in the resolution of Administrative Matter 17-06-02-SC was due to the need to coordinate among the SC, PNP, AFP and DOJ with respect to the security and logistics issues associated with the request for transfer of venue,” Sereno’s reply stated.
Sereno also said she was the justice-in-charge of Aguirre’s request, contrary to Gadon’s claim that it was Tijam.
Tijam has also been invited by the House justice committee.