MANILA -- The camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno reiterated that she has submitted her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) which is among the requirements in applying for the top judiciary post.
"CJ Sereno applied, made full disclosures about her SALNs, was found to have substantially complied with the JBC's requirements, and duly nominated after having been found qualified," Sereno's lawyer Carlo Cruz said in a statement.
Sereno's camp earlier stressed that she met the requirements of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) wherein she submitted three SALNs which she filed since she was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) in 2010.
They explained that the SALNs covered the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Sereno did not submit SALNs for previous yers because she was in private practice prior to her appointment to the high court.
Cruz also admitted that they were surprised why Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta questioned Sereno's appointment before the House panel when it was even him who signed the shortlist submitted to the Palace with Sereno's name when he served as JBC chair during the selection process for the post vacated by the ouster of the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
In his testimony, Peralta said Sereno’s appointment “may be considered void” because she did not comply with the requirements when she applied for the post.
He told the House justice committee that the application of Sereno for chief justice should have been rejected because of failure to submit the required statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.
Peralta chaired the JBC during the selection process for Chief Justice in 2012 to replace the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona since the more senior justices were nominated for the post at that time.
Another witness, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro also said there was “great injustice done to all applicants” for chief justice at that time when Sereno was included in the selection despite lacking requirements.
De Castro said the JBC "became very strict" when former chief justice Renato Corona was impeached on the ground that he failed to include his dollar deposits in his SALN.
According to De Castro, the JBC required applicants for chief justice to submit their SALNs for a ten-year period together with a waiver of secrecy of their bank records.
"The submission of the SALN is very important. Why is it the JBC allowed the inclusion of then associate justice Sereno in the applicants to be interviewed?" De Castro said.
"She should have been excluded in the interview but she was interviewed," she added.
But Cruz said the issue on legality of Sereno's appointment as chief justice in 2012, which was raised during the impeachment hearing earlier this week, only proved the "desperation" on the part of the House panel and personalities pushing for the SC chief's ouster.
"They ought to move on to more substantial issues. Their sticking to non-issues like this one smacks of utter desperation - an acknowledgment that they still do not have any real evidence to support the basic allegations in the impeachment complaint even after more than a dozen hearings," he stressed.
Cruz explained that the issue on validity of Sereno's impeachment should have not been tackled in the impeachment proceedings simply because "that matter is clearly not covered by the impeachment complaint."
"The Constitution prescribes specific grounds and this is clearly not among them. An impeachment proceeding cannot and should not be invoked as an 'appellate' process to test the validity of the appointments or election of the impeachable officers," he pointed out.
Cruz also argued that the House cannot "assail or challenge the decisions of the JBC, which is an independent constitutional body, and of the President who appoints to the Judiciary on the basis of the JBC's nominations."
JBC Executive Officer Annaliza Capacite, for her part, said that "an attempt to comply" on the SALN requirement is already a sufficient parameter. She said Sereno submitted 3 SALNs during her application in 2012. (PNA)
