|
By Jomar
Canlas, Reporter
CHIEF Justice
Reynato Puno is in favor of reopening to the public the Statements
of Assets Liabilities and Networth (SALNs) of Supreme Court justices
and other members of the judiciary.
During a
roundtable with The Manila Times, the Chief Justice said he would
not object if the Supreme Court reexamines a resolution prohibiting
disclosure of justices’ SALNs.
But he said
guidelines should be drafted to balance the need for accountability
and the Court’s need to be protected from harassment by vested
interests.
Puno is
referring to the Supreme Court en banc resolution of September 22,
1992, which denied the disclosure of the SALNs of members of the
judiciary.
That was
during the term of Chief Justice Andres Narvasa. Since then the
Court has not issued any subsequent order or ruling. Before the
resolution, the Justices’ SALN were disclosed to the public.
Puno
acknowledged the need to show transparency, saying this would
further encourage independence among judges and justices.
At present,
the Office of the Ombudsman cannot inquire and conduct a lifestyle
check of judges because it is under the sole province of the Court.
Puno, however,
stressed the need for guidelines, warning against harassment and
fishing expeditions.
“Personally,
I would not object if this problem is reexamined, but perhaps we
should be able to lay down the guidelines so that you can
accommodate the contending values involving this problem,” Puno
said.
He said that
the issue should be balanced between transparency and preventing
harassments of justices and judges in the performance of their
duties, which would imperil their work.
“This was a
subject of a resolution way back the time of Chief Justice Narvasa,
and I remember this was the result of cases, instances where some of
the justices were needlessly harassed by this kind of demand and
request, especially in the case of losing litigants. . . . I just
forward to you the values that are involved and have to be
balanced,” the Chief Justice pointed out.
At present,
only the Executive Department (from the President down below) and
the Legislative (senators and congressmen) show the SALN to the
public with the exception of the Judiciary (SC Justices and below).
Article XI,
Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution states that “(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
President, Vice-President, the Members of Cabinet, the Congress, the
Supreme Court . . . the declaration shall be disclosed to the public
in the manner provided by law.”
In June 2004
the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) sent a
request to the SC Clerk of Court for the SALN of the magistrates.
The PCIJ’s
main reason for its request was to use it as a reference material on
its website. Out of the 14 justices then, it was only Associate
Justice Adolf Azcuna who gave his SALN to PCIJ.
PCIJ then even
invoked its right to information on matters of public concern under
Article 3, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution.
Republic Act
6713 or the Code of Conduct for Public Officials and Employees also
mandates the disclosure of a government official and employee’s
SALN.
The American
Bar Association, represented by Retired Hawaii Judge Evelyn Lance,
said that there are good reasons for public disclosure to show
transparency in every affair of a magistrate.
In the United
States, a justice or a judge must file financial statements but the
disclosure as to their addresses and the amount is shown through
categories.
“Their
addresses are not disclosed in the statements (SALN) as a matter of
security for judges and instead, for example, saying my house is
worth $100,000, there are ranges—that real property worth $50,000
and $200,000 and those are public record,” Lance said.
|
