DOJ hands off on Sereno graft probe

MANILA, Philippines — The criminal charges filed against ousted chief justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno should be handled by the Office of the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra bared yesterday that the complaint filed before the DOJ by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, who was also a complainant in the botched impeachment of Sereno in the House of Representatives, has been forwarded to the office of Ombudsman Samuel Martires for preliminary investigation.

“Since it’s a graft case, it must be investigated by the ombudsman,” he said in a text message.

Gadon filed last January a separate complaint before the DOJ against Sereno for allegedly failing to file her statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) for 17 years during her stint at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

He filed the complaint when Sereno was still chief justice and enjoys immunity from criminal investigation being an impeachable official

Gadon accused Sereno of violating Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and RA No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Based on the complaint, Sereno violated RA 6713 when she submitted only three SALNs during her stint as law professor at the UP College of Law from 1986 to 2006 prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court (SC) in 2012.

Gadon alleged that Sereno also violated RA 3019, which “requires every public officer to prepare and file a true and detailed sworn statement of assets and liabilities, including a statement of the amounts and sources of income, the amounts of personal and family expenses, and the amount of income taxes paid.”

Gadon attached certifications from the UP, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to prove Sereno did not comply with the mandatory filing of SALNs.

Based on UP’s certification, it only has on record Sereno’s 2002 SALN, while the ombudsman certified it only has her 1998 SALN. The JBC, for its part, certified that upon her application for SC associate justice, she only submitted her 2006 SALN.

Gadon explained that he filed the complaint when Sereno was still enjoying immunity from suit only to beat the prescriptive period in filing cases on the alleged offenses.

Suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari and now Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission commissioner Manny Luna filed a similar complaint against Sereno before the ombudsman last February for their group, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

Now that Sereno has been ousted from the top judicial post, she can now be investigated for graft and criminal charges.

But while the DOJ refused to handle the charges against Sereno, it already started the preliminary investigation on the separate graft charges filed by Gadon against Supreme Court information technology consultant Helen Macasaet and Sereno’s staff members Ma. Lourdes Oliveros and Michael Ocampo in connection to the questioned contract with Macasaet.

The DOJ, however, would have to forward its findings for review of the ombudsman, which has exclusive jurisdiction over graft cases before the Sandiganbayan.