Sereno camp: Carpio, De Castro SALN submissions were 'substantial compliance'
March 27, 2018 | 3:40pm
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is facing two ouster petitions: An impeachment case currently pending before the House plenary and a petition seeking the nullification of her appointment before the Supreme Court. The STAR/Boy Santos
MANILA, Philippines — Like Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Teresita De Castro only "substantially complied" with one of the Judicial and Bar Council's requirements, the chief justice's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
"We want to clarify that in 2012, the JBC did not merely require 10 years, but all previous [Statements of Assets, Net Worth, and Liabilities] up to 31 December 2011 for those in government," lawyer Josa Deinla said.
Deinla insisted that according to the minutes of the JBC's meeting on July 20, 2012, "Carpio and De Castro were among those deemed to have 'substantially complied.'"
Substantial compliance, in law, is "compliance with the substantial or essential requirements" of a rule or statute.
The statement came following Carpio's and De Castro's releases to the media of JBC certification that they filed their SALNs for their respective applications for the chief justice position in 2012.
Last Friday, March 23, Carpio sent to members of the press a certificate syaing the JBC has on file photocopies of the senior justice's SALNs from 1992 to 1994 and 2001 to 2011.
On Monday, it was De Castro who released a JBC certification that the council has her SALNs from 1997-2011.
Both certifications, coursed through SC spokesperson Theodore Te, did not bear any statement from the two justices.
Carpio and De Castro were also shortlisted for the chief magistrate position in 2012.
Sereno, in her comment filed on the petition before the SC to nullify her appointment, said that the JBC relaxed its SALN requirement for all applicants.
JBC required submission of all SALNs
Sereno's lawyers also disputed De Castro's claim that the JBC only required the applicants to file at least 10 SALNs.
"With all due respect, the claim that the JBC required only 10 years of SALNs was Justice De Castro's self-serving assertion that is contradicted by the JBC's own announcement and its records," Deinla said.
"Contrary to De Castro's claim, the 2012 JBC announcement stated that the candidates for chief justice, in addition to other requirements, must submit 'all previous SALNs (up to 31 December 2011) for those in the government or SALN as of 31 December 2011 from those from the private sector.'”
De Castro, during one of the impeachment hearings held at the House, said that the JBC required them to submit at least 10 SALNs. The applicants were given a shorter time period to comply with the requirements then, as the application followed the impeachment and conviction of Chief Justice Reynato Corona.
De Castro earlier said: "She should have not been interviewed. She should have been excluded [from the list]."
The JBC, during the same hearing, clarified that they deemed that Sereno "substantially complied" with the SALN requirement.
'De Castro should have submitted 39 SALNs'
Deinla said that De Castro was bound to submit 39 SALNs for her application as she has been in government service since 1973. According to her certification, De Castro only filed 15.
Carpio, meanwhile, failed to submit his SALNs when he served as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel from 1992-1996.
"As a result, the minutes of the July 20, 2012 JBC meeting stated that Carpio and De Castro were among those deemed to have 'substantially complied'," Deinla added.
Sereno earlier said that she has recovered some of her supposedly "missing" SALNs and will present them once the impeachment case against her reaches the Senate.
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