MANILA, Philippines - Administration lawmakers said yesterday that Chief Justice Renato Corona had virtually owned up to committing an impeachable offense when his lawyers admitted to some omissions in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
Movement 188, composed of the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint last year, said the defense lawyers’ new argument that the “non-compliance” by Corona with certain SALN requirements is a virtual admission by them that the prosecution had nailed their client on Article 2.
Article 2 alleges that Corona failed to publicly disclose his SALN, and that the Chief Justice had not been truthful and even concealed certain assets from his annual wealth declarations.
The group noted comments from defense lawyers that Corona’s failure to declare the acquisition costs of his real properties in his SALN is not sufficient to remove him from office.
The group hit the “cavalier attitude” of defense lawyers in dismissing the discrepancy in the chief magistrate’s SALN reports.
“The defense team should not forget that the Supreme Court – even on Corona’s watch – had penalized or dismissed from public service at least six civil servants for relatively minor infractions in their SALN,” the lawmakers said.
“This fresh effort to downplay Mr. Corona’s SALN violations as a non-impeachable offense is a virtual admission by his lawyers that the prosecution has succeeded in nailing him on Article 2 charges that warrant his immediate eviction from the Supreme Court,” they said.
The group said Corona’s repeated failure to divulge the acquisition costs of his properties underlines “a systematic method of undervaluing his real wealth, because the purchase prices of his assets would provide a gauge to determine whether he has enough legal income to fund his property acquisition spree.”
Continue reading at By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)
