'CORRECTED' / CJ QUESTIONS PARTIALITY OF 5 SENATOR-JUDGES
MANILA, FEBRUARY 14, 2012 (ABS-CBN) by Jojo Malig, abs-cbnNEWS.com -
Are government officials and employees allowed to revise their annual statements
of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) after they are sworn in and filed,
according to the belief of former Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas?
No they can't, according to Supreme Court decisions.
Lawyers asked by ABS-CBNnews.com to clarify the issue mentioned several cases
before the Supreme Court that involved government officials and employees being
taken to court for discrepancies in their SALNs.
Under Section 8 of Republic Act 6713, public officials and employees are
required to annually file under oath their SALNs and disclosure of business
interests and financial connections and those of their spouses and unmarried
children under 18 years of age living in their households.
The SALN must contain the following:
•real property, its improvements,
acquisition costs, assessed value, and current fair market value;
•personal
property and acquisition cost;
•all other assets such as investments, cash
on hand or in banks, stock, bonds , and the like; and
•all financial
liabilities, both current and long term.
The disclosure of business interest and financial connections, meanwhile,
must contain exact information on all the person's business interests.
If the information in the SALN is false and inaccurate, the person who filed
it is not allowed to be first informed about the error and correct it, according
to Supreme Court rulings.
The Supreme Court Second Division, in a March 23, 2011 ruling on G.R. No.
176058, made this assertion.
The case involved a public works official who was accused of failing to
disclose his wife's business interests and financial connections in his SALN.
The official claimed that he and his wife had no business interests of any
kind and for this reason, he wrote "none" under the column "Business Interests
and Financial Connections" on his 1999 SALN and left the column blank in his
2000 and 2001 SALNs. He also he attributed the mistake to his SALNs being
prepared by his wife's bookkeeper.
He said he should have first been allowed to correct the error in his SALNs
before being charged for violation of RA 6713.
The SC, however, said that Section 10 of RA 6713 does not say that he
be first told that his SALN needs to be corrected.
"Assuring the truth and accuracy of the answers in the SALN is the function
of the filer's oath that to the best of his knowledge and information, the data
he provides in it constitutes the true statements of his assets, liabilities,
net worth, business interests, and financial connections," the ruling said. "Any
falsity in the SALN makes him liable for falsification of public documents under
Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code."
"The law will not require the impossible, namely, that the committee [that
reviewed his SALN] must ascertain the truth of all the information that the
public officer or employee stated or failed to state in his SALNs and remind him
of it," it added.
It was the second time that the public works official was found guilty of
failing to file a correct and accurate SALN.
In an earlier case, G.R. No. 169982 that was promulgated November 23, 2007 by
the Supreme Court 3rd Division, the official was also found guilty of negligence
in accomplishing his SALN for the year 2002.
'Substantive, not formal defects'
Other cases wherein the Supreme Court rejected the notion that Section 10 of
RA 6713 allows SALNs to be corrected are G.R. Nos. 190580-81 promulgated
February 21, 2011 by the high tribunal's Second Division.
The erring official, a treasurer of Parañaque City, claimed that he was
entitled to be informed of any error in his SALN and should have been given the
opportunity to correct it.
"True, Section 10 of R.A. 6713 provides that when the head of office finds
the SALN of a subordinate incomplete or not in the proper form such head of
office must call the subordinate's attention to such omission and give him the
chance to rectify the same. But this procedure is an internal office matter,"
the Supreme Court said.
"The notice and correction referred to in Section 10 are intended merely to
ensure that SALNs are 'submitted on time, are complete, and are in proper form.'
Obviously, these refer to formal defects in the SALNs," it added.
The court ruling said the charges against the Parañaque official are for
falsification of the assets side of his SALNs and for declaring a false net
worth.
"These are substantive, not formal defects," the court said. "It would be
absurd to require such heads to run a check on the truth of what the SALNs state
and require their subordinates to correct whatever lies these contain. The
responsibility for truth in those SALNs belongs to the subordinates who prepared
them, not to the heads of their offices."
Associate Justice Roberto Abad penned the ruling, which was certified by
Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Corona questions partiality of 5 senator-judges by
Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News Posted at 02/13/2012 7:08 PM | Updated as of
02/13/2012 11:08 PM
[OLD PHOTO - FRIENDS, ALLIES, CELEBRATE DRILONS BIRTHDAY: Liberal Party
President Sen. Franklin M. Drilon celebrated his 61st birthday in a simple
gathering of friends and political allies in his residence Sunday evening
(November 26). Singing the Happy Birthday Song to Drilon were Sen. Edgardo
Angara (partly hidden), former President Corazon Aquino, LP National Chairman
Sen. Francis Pangilinan and Tarlac Rep. Noynoy Aquino.]
MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona filed on Monday a 48-page
supplemental petition before the Supreme Court, citing the tendency of
senator-judges to "propound questions more akin to cross-examinations and loaded
with veiled threats, securing for the prosecution what they failed to do for
themselves."
"In this case, the conduct of senator-judges has drawn the attention of the
public, casting doubt on the integrity of the impeachment trial process and even
the impartiality of the judges themselves in order to allow the prosecution to
present evidence on paragraph 2.4 and to amplify or assist said prosecutors, the
allies of President Aquino in the Senate abused their authority and continued
their presentation of evidence for the prosecution," the supplemental petition
said.
The senator-judges mentioned are Franklin Drilon, Alan Peter Cayetano,
Francis Pangilinan, Teofisto Guingona III and Sergio Osmena III.
Corona, through his defense team, earlier asked the Supreme Court to declare
the impeachment complaint as null and void and stop the presentation of evidence
in the trial including his bank records.
Based on the 39-page urgent petition for certiorari, the defense said they
have been "forced into litigation with standards so far below the norm in
regular proceedings."
As such, "the effect has been the unhappy experience of trying the
impeachment case with the general public as the judge and jury. Not only does
this violate the right of CJ Corona to the cold, neutrality of an impartial
judge, but it also denies him the fundamental right to a trial in accordance
[with the Constitution and the laws]," the defense said.
They cited these arguments: - the impeachment complaint is null and void
because it was transmitted without due notice and hearing to CJ Corona; - the
impeachment court gravely abused its discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction in retaining 2.3 of Article II - paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4 of the
complaint are based on pure speculation and conclusions, which cannot be
considered as ultimate facts sufficient to support a complaint; - the
presentation of evidence on charges of alleged corruption and unexplained wealth
violates petitioner's right to due process; - the impeachment court committed
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in issuing
the subpoena for all the bank accounts, as requested by the prosecution.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
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