'Palusot'

As of this writing, Senator Gregorio Honasan was the latest lawmaker to sign a “waiver” that would allow scrutiny of his bank deposits, including dollar accounts if any, under his name. Honasan is up for reelection in the coming May 2013 elections. For whatever it’s worth, the waiver could invariably be seen as in aid of his reelection.

Honasan became the third senator to execute a waiver after fellow reelectionist Senators Francis Escudero, and Antonio Trillanes IV. By the way, the three are among the “poorest millionaires” at the Senate. Arranged according to their respective declared net worth: Honasan (P20.8 million), Escudero (P9.8 million), and Trillanes (P3.8 million).

Actually, Escudero beat them all to the draw in executing a waiver. Escudero announced in his explanatory vote for conviction of erstwhile Chief Justice Renato Corona that he had already signed his waiver and submitted the same to Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile even before he cast his vote against the impeached Chief Justice.

Ironically, Senator-judge Sergio Osmeña III who cajoled Corona to sign a waiver on his bank deposit did not pick up the challenge of the ex-Chief Justice. Osmeña and others like House prosecution panel chief Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas who frowned on Corona’s challenge argued they are not the ones under impeachment trial, so why should they?

Last week, seven representatives from the Makabayan bloc in Congress followed suit. They were party-list representatives Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana de Jesus of Gabriela, Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers, Raymond Palatino of Kabataan and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis. They are among the 188 House members who signed the impeachment complaint against Corona.

But among the so-called Group188, it was Kalinga Party Rep. Abigail Faye Ferriol who was the first House member to sign a waiver a day after Corona’s conviction.

Corona himself signed a second waiver that allowed the impeachment court to look into his peso and dollar accounts declared in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs). Corona’s waiver also included the P80 million deposits of commingled funds and $2.4 million in his dollar accounts all under his name in various banks in the Philippines.

At first, Corona signed a conditional waiver that would be turned over to the impeachment court if the 188 House members of the 15th Congress along with Senator-judge Franklin Drilon would sign similar waivers. But Drilon declined Corona’s challenge and warned it might cause instability in the country’s banking system.

From that point on, the impeachment court was obviously in no mood already to accept Corona’s second waiver. With just a week left before the 15th Congress adjourn their second regular sessions, the senator-judges were apparently all ready to pass judgment. With 20 votes, Corona was convicted for non-declaration in his SALN of huge sums of bank deposits and real estate properties.

In a press conference at the Senate yesterday, or a week after Corona’s conviction by the impeachment court, Honasan announced he, too has signed a waiver and transmitted the same to the Office of the Ombudsman. The waiver allows the Ombudsman to look into Honasan’s bank accounts should the senator be a subject of any investigation.

Honasan’s waiver stated, among other things, that he is allowing “all banking institutions to disclose any and all bank documents pertaining to all peso and foreign currency accounts under my name, for the exclusive and sole purpose of either investigating a duly signed and verified complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman or prosecuting an action before the Sandiganbayan, in a manner as provided for by law.”

So, for all intents and purposes, Honasan’s waiver is conditional: only if there is any investigation being conducted on him. I just don’t know if the others who earlier executed their waivers made such explicit condition.

Honasan signed his waiver even if, he cited, there is such existing authorization contained in one of the provisions in the SALN as submitted to the Senate. In the SALN, it states: “the Ombudsman or his duly authorized representative to obtain and secure from all appropriate government agencies including the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) such documents that may show his or her assets, liabilities, net worth, business interests, and financial connections.”

Invoking the same provision in the SALN, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, or P-Noy for short, likewise refused to follow Corona’s lead. As far as P-Noy is concerned, what Corona did was merely “theatrics,” or for dramatic impact.

The challenge to issue a waiver was not, however, Corona’s own making but was hurled to the President and his Cabinet by Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano. Even as he cast a conviction vote, Cayetano lauded Corona for having issued a waiver that is not only an exemplary action but set a precedent on transparency among our country’s top leaders.

P-Noy could not care more if Corona did such unprecedented act. The word “waiver,” according to P-Noy, is good propaganda. The Chief Executive swore all his bank accounts are already declared in his SALN as submitted to the Ombudsman and which is made public every year. In fairness to the President, this is true.

The problem of the former chief justice is that he and his fellow justices in the Supreme Court (SC) have gone around the law in preventing public disclosure of their SALNs. The submission of SALN is required of all those working in government under Republic Act 6713 (RA), or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

There is a wave for waiver for transparency’s sake. P-Noy could no longer ignore this gathering steam. His continued refusal to execute a waiver would naturally be seen as indication of his trying to hide something. Or is P-Noy making his own kind of “palusot?”

This was the simplistic oral argument by Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas to press for Corona’s conviction. Because at the end of the day, to borrow P-Noy’s favorite cliché, all these legal and non-legal arguments against waiver are nothing but palusot.