ACCOUNTANTS
MANILA, MARCH 19, 2012 (TRIBUNE) EDITORIAL - The House prosecution
panel seems to have pinned the bulk of its case against impeached Chief Justice
Renato Corona on what is not contained in his statement of assets, liabilities
and networth (SALn) in that the impeachment trial has been reduced to a primer
on the proper filing of the SALn among public officials.
It is an expensive primer but a positive result is that the SALn process is
being revamped now to include the daily expenses of public officials that would
not only provide a window into the lifestyle of each government official but act
as a deterrent as well against graft.
That, however, will not resolve the arguments in the impeachment trial on the
full disclosure of his assets in the SALn he filed.
The accusers of Corona are insisting that the acquisition should have been
used by the chief magistrate in declaring the worth of his assets instead of the
assessed value.
Sen. Chiz Escudero, one of the judges of the impeachment court, said that if
such a standard is strictly enforced, some 99 percent of public officials are
liable for sanctions since most use the assessed value of their properties in
SALn declarations.
The prosecution team and of course, some of the judges who help them along,
had insisted that a different bar should be used on Corona since he is the Chief
Justice and one of the highest officials of the land.
If that is the case, however, Noynoy should be expected to come extra clean
over the Hacienda Luisita Inc. land distribution issue, an appeal which is
currently pending with the Supreme Court. As everybody knows, the hacienda is
owned by the family of Noynoy and he was quoted as seeking a fair compensation
from government on the parceling of the vast sugar estate.
This fair compensation is something like P10 billion, an amount never heard
of in any land reform program in any country to be paid to just one landowner.
Incidentally, the pending hacienda case is being bruited as a prime reason
for Noynoy's campaign to oust Corona and "reclaim the Supreme Court."
The allegations against Corona that formed the basis for his impeachment are
being ramped up several notches depending on the mood of the prosecutors.
The original Article 2 of the impeachment charges read the respondent
committed culpable violation of the Constitution and/or betrayed the public
trust when he failed to disclose to the public his SALn as required under
Section 17, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution.
Witnesses presented by both contending team of lawyers already disproved this
allegation.
Subsequently the charge related to the article was revised to Corona's
supposed improper disclosure and his failure to file income tax returns. Again
witnesses presented by the defense laid waste to these arguments with an SC
official bringing to the impeachment court proof that Corona was not remiss in
the filing and payment of his tax obligations under the so-called "alpha list"
that contains the name of SC officials who automatically remit tax payments to
the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
That failing, now the argument was on Corona's failure to rightly value the
properties in his SALn.
What is being peddled now is that Corona willfully used accounting maneuvers
to misdeclare his assets.
That certainly would be a grave sin but only for his accountant.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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