Joker Arroyo, lawyer differ on correcting ‘erroneous’ SALNs

If Chief Justice Renato Corona made erroneous entries in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), does this constitute an impeachable offense?

Sen. Joker Arroyo on Tuesday raised this question, noting that the law requiring public officials to file SALNs allows the correction of errors in their declarations.

Arroyo noted that prosecutors were attempting to pin Corona down for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for allegedly failing to include several high-end properties in his SALN.

“Does the filing of wrong entries amount to an impeachable offense? That is a question that will confront the senators at the moment of truth,” Arroyo said in a phone interview.

“If wrong SALN entries constitute an offense, is it elevated to a level that would merit (Corona’s) removal from public office or is it just an ordinary misdemeanor? We note that not every offense is impeachable, like jaywalking or a little slander,” he added.

Not applicable

Romulo Macalintal, a lawyer and impeachment analyst, said on Tuesday the citation by some senators and the prosecution and defense panels of various cases decided by the Supreme Court involving the noncompliance with the SALN law were not applicable in the Corona case.

“The Supreme Court cases involved judicial proceedings while impeachment involves a political case. To say that the Supreme Court cases are applicable in an impeachment case is to set a standard of proof to prove whether or not the alleged failure to fill up certain items in the SALN is impeachable,” Macalintal said in a text message.

He said that in an impeachment trial, “there is no standard of proof to convict or to acquit since the impeachment court is not bound by the rules of court or judicial decisions, although they may serve as guidelines but not absolutely binding [to the senator-judges].”

The lawyer said impeachment “is not a judicial process but mostly political,” pointing out the impeachment court was not composed of lawyers but politicians elected by the people.

“The senator-judges could be guided by their own basis or standard of proof when they individually pronounce their verdicts, which they are not even required to explain, unless they want to do so. Hence, except for educational purposes for the ordinary observer of the impeachment proceedings, the cited Supreme Court decisions will not bind the senator-judges in making their verdicts,” Macalintal explained.

New form urged

Also on Tuesday, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III warned that the new SALN form that 1.5 million government employees would be required to fill out may become a source of blackmail or harassment, especially if these employees were not briefed on what to declare.

Pimentel noted that even if the Civil Service Commission decided to defer the use of the new SALN this year, he had received feedback that the agency “did not embark on consultations with government employees” before the new form was considered.

The commission drew flak after officials noted that details required in the new SALN form were too tedious and may be cause for invasion of privacy.

Pimentel wants the Senate to conduct an investigation to see whether the form conformed with the law.

Unjust

“It would be an unjust situation if public school teachers, policemen, health workers and other government workers were burdened by having to fill up a SALN form that exposes them to possible harassment and yet does not guarantee to be a deterrent to corruption,” he explained.

“In the case of a public school teacher with a spouse who earns more than her and children who share payment for household expenses, the teacher may inadvertently declare expenses higher than her income and be compelled to report more assets than her salary can afford,” Pimentel noted.

“On the other hand, if the teacher reports the income of other family members, that would be an invasion of privacy.  She would be open to being vulnerable to being charged with an antigraft and corruption complaint,” he added.

“Even if the charges don’t prosper, the ordinary government employee may suffer anxiety apart from possibly losing days at work and possibly lose some income,” Pimentel warned. With a report from Jerome Aning