Corona prosecutors must answer allegations about their own SALNs, says Palace aide

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino’s allies among the prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona have to address criticisms that while they scrutinize the magistrate’s net worth, a number of them have yet to publicly disclose their own statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, a Malacañang spokesperson said Saturday.

Abigail Valte, one of Aquino’s spokespersons, said it was up to the lawmakers to determine whether they would want to revisit an earlier decision to keep their SALNs under wraps until after the impeachment trial.

Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas, head of the prosecution panel, has been reported as one of the lawmakers who have yet to publicly disclose their SALNs.

“I think that is something that they will have to deal with, how they would approach this kind of situation,” Valte said over state-run radio station dzRB.

Valte said members of the prosecution team had agreed to keep their SALNs under wraps because their sworn declarations might be used to divert the public’s attention from Corona’s trial to their assets and liabilities.

“As such, it is up to them if they want to revisit that collective decision,” Valte said.

In a related development, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday acknowledged that he used only the assessed value of his  property in his SALN  disclosures through all his years in the government service.

Following a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism on his supposed failure to indicate as well the current fair market value and acquisition cost of his properties, Abad said he would start doing so when he files his SALN for 2011 in April.

“In the interest of transparency, I will review my previous SALNs and include the acquisition cost and the fair market value, to the extent that the pertinent documents are still available. This will also be reflected in the SALN that I will file in April for year 2011,” Abad said in a statement.

Lawyer Ramon Esguerra, one of Corona’s defense lawyers, adverted to a PCIJ report that Abad did not indicate the current fair market values and acquisition costs of the property that he owns.

“I acknowledge though that with respect to my real properties, I have declared their value based on the assessed value, which has been the basis of the taxes I have paid against these,” Abad said. “In all my years in public service, my attention has never been called to this, whether by the Civil Service Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman or the Commission on Appointments.”

Abad said he had been faithful and truthful in filing his SALNs since he was Batanes’ representative in Congress and when he became a Cabinet member.

Abad was also previously a secretary of agrarian reform and of education in past administrations.

“My public service records—whether in Congress or Cabinet—will bear me out that I never missed a year of filing my SALN. Everything I own and their corresponding value—whether real property, investments or even artwork and books—has been faithfully disclosed in my SALN,” Abad said.