SC grants lawyer’s request to release Sereno’s SALN

The Supreme Court has granted the request of Atty. Larry Gadon to release Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth from 2010 to present and other documents that will be used in filing an impeachment complaint.

In a resolution dated Aug. 15, the high court granted the release of the 20 documents requested.

Aside from the SALN, the high court also allowed the release of the certified copies of the resolution dated Nov. 27, 2012 in A.M. No. 12-11-9-SC (Re: Opening the Regional Court Administrative Office in Region 7); resolution dated Jan. 22, 2013 in A.M. No. 12-11-9-SC (Creating a Needs Assessment Committee to Study the Necessity of Decentralizing the Functions in Support of the Supreme Court’s Power of Administrative Supervision Over Lower Courts); Letter of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno to Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro sometime May/June 2013, admitting that she deliberately changed the recommendation made by the latter in the TRO in Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines v. COMELEC (G.R. Nos. 206844-45 and 206982, May 28, 2013) if available from the office of the Clerk of Court; resolution of the Supreme Court granting survivorship benefits to the mothers of Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa (Pilar S. Caguioa), and Associate Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen (Adrelina Famora-Leonen), redacting therefrom the addresses and other personal circumstances pertaining to the mothers of Justice Caguioa and Justice Leonen; letter of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno dated May 29, 2014 addressed to the Supreme Court Justices, alleging that several Justices requested that the Court do away with the voting for Court recommendees as provided in Sec. 1, Rule 8 of JBC-009 in connection with position vacated by retired Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad, if available from the Office of the Clerk of Court; all documents related to the request to purchase, bidding, procurement, and delivery of the Toyota Land Cruiser 2017 model; all documents pertaining to the request to purchase, bidding, procurement, and delivery of two motorcycles used to escort Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, and their corresponding Memorandum/Acknowledgment Receipts; list of official domestic and foreign travels of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno from 2012-present, including a list of those who accompanied her, purpose of travel, detailed expenses per travel, including airfare, accommodation, and all kinds of allowances, including those shouldered by development partners; list of all consultants of the Supreme Court and Office of the Chief Justice, whether paid for by the Supreme Court or by development partners, and their respective contracts, from 2012-present.

READ: Complainants in Sereno impeach case set to justify ouster bid

Last Aug. 10, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) already received the records from the Supreme Court needed for their impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice.

The SC, in an en banc session last August 8, granted the release of documents, except the copy of the Memorandum dated July 10, 2017 issued by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro.

The SC also granted the release of Sereno’s memorandum for appointment of lawyer Solomon Lumba as her staff head and the subsequent letter of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio withdrawing his signature in the said appointment over an internal issue. JE