BIR starts tax probe vs Sereno

MANILA, Philippines — Revenue examiners last Friday began looking into the tax filings of ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, as ordered by the House justice committee that is deliberating on her impeachment.

Sereno said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) wanted records of her tax declarations from as far back as 2004 and even records of her household expenses.

She also disclosed that she was advised as early as July or August last year to “do the politically smart thing” and resign or face trouble, but she ignored it amid her skirmishes with President Duterte. Sereno declined to identify for now who gave the advice.

“This morning my lawyers – even though the prescription for that kind of audit has expired 14 years ago – are now talking with the BIR,” Sereno said in an interview with “The Chiefs” on One News, the all-news channel to be launched tomorrow by Cignal TV. The interview airs this coming week.

Two members of her staff are also facing a preliminary probe before the Department of Justice.

“The BIR had sent me, if I’m not mistaken, around two or three letters demanding that I surrender my books of account and show them. I don’t keep an accountant to keep track of household expenses like rice and food… but they were asking for those documents, yes,” she said. “Can you believe that?”

She added: “This is a clear message to everybody – you don’t mess with this administration. We will file charges, you will have a tax audit, and you will have all these kinds of difficulties.”

Sereno has until May 30 to file a motion for reconsideration of her ouster through a mere quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida. She said she would file the appeal.

She said she was encouraged by the resolution signed by 14 senators, expressing to the Supreme Court (SC) the sense of the Senate against her ouster through a quo warranto petition rather than by impeachment.

Sereno declined to comment on the reported plan of the minority in the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against the eight SC justices who voted for her ouster, for violating constitutional provisions on the replacement of impeachable officials.

As her appeal is awaited, the House justice committee has put on hold deliberations on Sereno’s impeachment on charges that include failure to file her official statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

The 14 senators and the House minority stress that a chief justice may be removed only by impeachment, with this power vested by the Constitution solely on Congress.

Under the Constitution, the impeachable officials are the president, vice president, the heads of constitutional bodies including the ombudsman and all SC justices.

“Sometime in the middle of last year, in July or August, I was already told to resign. And it would have been politically smart because according to them it would have spared me from difficulty and pains and persecution,” Sereno narrated.

She stressed she was not referring to Duterte’s call for her to resign, which he made in October.

“There were insinuations that I could walk away and do the painless thing. But I said, ‘If every public official who is ready anyway to face all her accusers and present her side will just resign and give up, then nothing will be left of our institutions,” she said.

Sereno added: “Our institutions are to be peopled by strong individuals who, when they are sure of their convictions and of their innocence, they must fight – and I did that. I did the right thing. So that was not, according to them, politically smart.”

A politically smart person, she said, would “reach out” to the President, the House Speaker and others for support in exchange for willingness “to accommodate a certain arrangement, but I was not willing to do that.”

She explained that judges rely in large part on the ability of the chief justice to stand up on the basis of convictions “and regardless of the pressures, resist.”

“If I had done what was politically smart, it would have been such a disservice, and I would have lost any ability to look young people in the eye and say, ‘fight for your convictions,’” Sereno told The Chiefs.

SC justice warns Bar passers

Amid the public outrage over the granting of the quo warranto petition against Sereno, Supreme Court Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin warns the 1,724 Bar passers to maintain proper behavior during their oath-taking ceremony on June 1 or be punished with contempt of court.

“Any act that undermines the safe and orderly conduct of the oath-taking ceremonies or disturbs the due decorum therefor shall be punished with direct contempt of court, and shall be dealt with summarily,” said Bersamin, chair of the 2017 Bar examination.

 “In this regard, the Supreme Court security officials and personnel are deputized to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of the oath taking, and their duly designated personnel are expressly authorized to prevent or reprimand any violations of the orderly conduct of the ceremonies,” he added. – With Evelyn Macairan