Sereno faces criminal raps over failure to file SALN

MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon yesterday filed a criminal complaint against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno for her alleged failure to submit statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 17 years when she was still a professor at the University of the Philippines.

In a two-page complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Gadon charged Sereno for violations of Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. 

He said the complaint is different from the one he filed at the House of Representatives to impeach the Chief Justice.

But Josa Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, dismissed the new complaint, saying it would not prosper.

“Indeed desperate times call for desperate measures. Gadon knows that he still has nothing on the Chief Justice after all the undeserved attention that his complaint has been given. We are confident that he will fall flat doing this latest stunt,” Deinla said.

Gadon denied that he was engaged in forum shopping since the impeachment was about determining the fitness of a public official to retain her position while the one at DOJ was criminal in nature.

When Sereno applied for the position of SC associate justice in 2010 and as chief justice in 2012, she reportedly mentioned that she was a law professor at UP from November 1986 until 2006.

But during the congressional hearing, it appeared that she only filed her SALN for the years 1998, 2002 and 2006 as certified by the Office of the President, UP College of Law, Central Records Division of the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Office of Recruitment, Selection and Nomination of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

Gadon said his complaint before the DOJ shows Sereno’s “repeated acts that she was not submitting her SALN and did not abide by the law.”

“This only shows that she is not deserving to be the Chief Justice because she committed violations even before she was appointed to the Supreme Court,” the complaint read in part.

 While admitting that Sereno, being an impeachable officer, could not be indicted, Gadon said officials could just ask her to file a comment.

“What would probably happen (to the complaint) is that they would ask her to comment and it would be on record that the process of investigation would take place. It would then be up to the DOJ if they would issue a resolution or not,” he said.

 Gadon said he did not file the case before the Office of the Ombudsman because the DOJ has a “concurrent jurisdiction when it comes to cases like this. They have a memorandum of agreement that if the case is filed before the DOJ, then the DOJ will take cognizance of the case.”

 The preliminary investigation could also be done by the DOJ, which would submit its recommendations before the anti-graft office.

 Aside from Sereno, Gadon said he also intends to file criminal and administrative complaints against Supreme Court officials who violated the Procurement Law in the acquisition of a P5-million Toyota Land Cruiser and were involved in the holding of the 3rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chief Justice Meeting in Boracay, and the hiring of information and communications technology (consultants.

 Gadon said all acts were allegedly done without the conduct of public bidding.