SC’s Carpio maintains he filed SALNs unlike Sereno
Unlike Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio filed his 10-year statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) for the preceding decade upon applying for the top judicial post in 2012.
Carpio, now the acting chief justice after Sereno took an indefinite leave of absence earlier this month to prepare for her impeachment trial at the Senate, ordered the release of a certification from the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to prove that he met the requirement.
The move was also an apparent denial to Sereno’s claim, contained in her answer to the quo warranto petition of the solicitor general, that none of the applicants for the chief justice post at the time filed a complete 10-year SALN as required.
The certification issued by the JBC office of recruitment, selection and nomination and released by the Supreme Court public information office upon his instruction last Friday showed that Carpio submitted his SALNs from 2001 to 2011.
“This is to certify that our office has on file photocopies of his Honor’s (Carpio’s) statements of assets, liabilities and net worth from 2001-2011,” read the document. “This is to further certify that our Office has on file electronic copies of his Honor’s SALN from 1992-1994.”
Carpio was one of 13 justices who compelled Sereno to take an indefinite leave of absence from the high court. He also voted with the majority of justices to require Sereno to answer the quo warranto petition.
In her answer to the quo warranto petition last week, Sereno argued that her failure to meet the 10-year SALN requirement cannot be basis for invalidating her appointment and removal from her post, claiming that the submission of all SALNs for those in government is a requirement that the JBC can waive.
Sereno admitted that although the JBC waived such requirement for her, it also did so for 13 other applicants who had failed to submit their complete SALNs to the JBC.
She also claimed that other applicants for the chief justice post in 2012 – including Carpio – also did not submit their complete SALNs. Also previously applying for the post were retired Associate Justices Roberto Abad and Arturo Brion, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, deans Raul Pangalangan and Amado Valdez, as well as congressman Ronaldo Zamora.
Except for the two deans, all the others were shortlisted together with Sereno.
In the quo warranto petition filed last March 5, Solicitor General Jose Calida asked the SC to nullify Sereno’s appointment because of her ineligibility for the top judicial post and to order her removal from office as a de facto official whose authority was hinged on an appointment that was void from the start.
Calida argued that Sereno did not meet the specific qualification of proven integrity for the chief justice post with her failure to comply with the required submission of 10-year SALNs.
A quo warranto petition, as provided in both Section 5(1), Article VIII of the Constitution and Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, challenges the legal basis of one’s appointment and seeks the removal of the respondent from office because of lack of qualification or legal basis to continue holding such office.
In her answer, Sereno asked the high court to dismiss the petition on technical ground, particularly for lack of jurisdiction and violation of the one-year prescription period for filing such case.
The embattled chief justice argued that the SC has no jurisdiction and authority to remove her from office because the 1987 Constitution provides that she could only be ousted by impeachment in Congress as an impeachable official.
Citing Article XI Section 2 of the Constitution, she said impeachable officials – including herself and all justices of the SC – may only be removed from office upon impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court.