Solicitor General Jose Calida on Friday has branded Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno a “liar” for claiming that she has already “recovered” nine of her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALNs) when in fact it was the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) who was able to secure the copies and had them submitted to the Supreme Court.
According to Sereno’s spokesperson Atty. Jojo Lacanilao, the Chief Justice has recently retrieved her SALNs which were filed in 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997.
Lacanilao added that the 1998 SALN was found with the Office of the Ombudsman while the 2002 SALN was with the University of the Philippines Human Resources Development Office (UP HRDO).
Today, Sereno again attempted to mislead the Filipino people.
Sereno claims to have recovered 8 of her SALNs.
Except for her 1989 SALN, assuming it is not a fabrication,
those Sereno supposedly "recovered" were the same ones submitted by the OSG to the Supreme Court.Liar.
— Jose Callangan Calida (@SolGenCalida) April 12, 2018
But Calida, in his Twitter account posted the reply letter of UP HRDO Office director Angelo Escoto. UP provided the OSG copies of Sereno’s SALNs for the years 1985,1990, 1991, 1993, 1994,1995, 1996, 1997 and 2002.
“As petitioner, the Republic has the ‘burden of proof’ to establish that Sereno failed to file her SALNs. This certification from the UP HRDO is proof enough. The burden now shifts to Sereno, who must offer evidence that she indeed filed her SALNs,” Calida said.
“Today, Sereno again attempted to mislead the Filipino people. Sereno claims to have recovered 8 of her SALNs. Except for her 1989 SALN, assuming it is not a fabrication, those Sereno supposedly ‘recovered’ were the same ones submitted by the OSG to the Supreme Court,” he added.
As Petitioner, the Republic has the "burden of proof" to establish that Sereno failed to file her SALNs.
This certification from the UP HRDO is proof enough.
The burden now shifts to Sereno, who must offer evidence that she indeed filed her SALNs. pic.twitter.com/aA0gW1UmfW
— Jose Callangan Calida (@SolGenCalida) April 12, 2018
Calida filed a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court in hopes of ousting Sereno even before the start of the impeachment trial at the Senate.
Calida said Sereno’s appointment is void as she had failed to comply with the SALN requirement set by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
When Sereno applied for the post of Chief Justice, she reportedly submitted her SALNs for the years 2009, 2010, and 2011 or the years that she was an SC associate justice. /muf