EDITORIAL - Rule of their own making

Justices of the Supreme Court led by their chief, Renato Corona, met the April 30 deadline for the submission of their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALN. But Corona, whose impeachment trial over questionable assets, among other things, resumes next week, will not make public his SALN, according to SC spokesman and court administrator Midas Marquez.

The spokesman said this is in keeping with a resolution passed by the SC on May 2, 1989 when Marcelo Fernan was the chief justice, and reiterated in 1992 under the watch of Andres Narvasa. The resolution effectively allowed SC justices to keep the contents of their SALNs secret, allowing the mere filing of the documents with the SC clerk of court to constitute compliance with requirements under Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Since this is an internal resolution, SC justices can make public their SALNs if they wish. Amid the tug-of-war over Corona’s SALN during his trial, two SC associate justices – Antonio Carpio and Ma. Lourdes Sereno – provided summaries of their SALNs to an online publication.

The SC resolution allows media organizations to obtain copies of justices’ SALNs for dissemination to the public. This has been done by the media in the two chambers of Congress and Malacañang, resulting in those annual stories about the rise and fall of the fortunes of the president, lawmakers and Cabinet members.

Over at the SC, however, the resolution has been invoked in the past years by the tribunal to reject media requests for copies of justices’ SALN. Not even chief justices who were regarded as reform-minded saw the resolution as a mockery of transparency requirements in RA 6713, and the resolution has endured. 

Since the start of his unprecedented trial, Corona has vowed to bare his assets to the public “in due time.” The time apparently is not coinciding with his annual filing of his SALN. Even public officials are entitled to a degree of privacy, but an official who wants to clear himself of public perceptions – reflected in surveys – that he has amassed questionable wealth may want to be more open about his assets. The SC resolution should pose no problems. It’s a rule of their own making, which SC justices can change or withdraw any time they wish.