SALN: Filing and Disclosure

Article II of the Articles of Impeachment against Chief Justice Renato Corona reads:

“II. RESPONDENT COMMITTED CULPABLE VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND/OR BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST WHEN HE FAILED TO DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC HIS STATEMENT OF ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND NET WORTH AS REQUIRED UNDER SEC. 17, ART. XI OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION.”

Much public debate and media propaganda have been heaped on this charge to the point of demonizing the Chief Justice with supposed ill-gotten wealth.

Let us recall what We, the Sovereign Filipino People, actually provide in our Constitution, thus:

“Article XI. Section 17. A public officer or employee shall, upon assumption of office and as often thereafter as may be required by law, submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth. In the case of the President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Commissions and other constitutional offices, and officers of the armed forces with general or flag rank, the declaration shall be disclosed to the public in the manner provided by law.”

Using the basic rule of constitutional construction called verba legis or to take the constitution as it is plainly worded or written in its ordinary meaning, we find two things here.

First, the duty that must be complied with by every public officer or employee upon assumption of office and as often thereafter as required by law is to “submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth.” In short, all that needs to be done is to file the SALN with the proper office.

In Day 3 of the on-going impeachment trial, the prosecution’s first witness, the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court, submitted the SALNs of the Chief Justice for all the years he had been a Justice and now Chief Justice. Quite obviously then, if presented in evidence, these SALNs would readily show that CJ Corona has indeed complied with the Constitution.

Second, public disclosure of the SALNs is not the duty of the public officer or employee required to submit a SALN. The Constitution is crystal clear: “the declaration shall be disclosed to the public in the manner provided by law.” In other words, this necessarily implies that it is the office or officer in charge of the custody of all SALNs submitted who has the duty of public disclosure following whatever rules or guidelines then obtaining when public disclosure is sought.

And in the case of Justices of the Supreme Court, the standing law is the Supreme Court En Banc Resolution, Re: Request of Jose Alejandrino, May 2, 1989. This resolution provides for the guidelines for public disclosure of SALNs of justices, judges and court personnel. Briefly, release of SALNs is generally allowed upon proper request and for a legitimate reason to the exclusion of requests designed for fishing expeditions or for harassment and other prohibited purposes.

Let us see.