Justice De Castro shows proof of compliance with JBC SALN requirement

Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro on Monday released proof she had complied with the Judicial and Bar Council's (JBC) requirement on wealth declarations for applicants to the position of chief justice.

Following a similar claim by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio last Friday, De Castro coursed through Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te a JBC certification saying it has her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) covering 14 years.

"This is to certify that our Office has on file photocopies of her Honor's Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) from 1997-2011," the certification, signed by Court Attorney IV Jenifer Gabrillo-Salvador, said.

The document, dated March 26, was noted by JBC Executive Committee chairperson Jose Catral Mendoza.

De Castro and Carpio's release of their respective certifications from the JBC refutes Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's camp's statement that some of her co-applicants for the top judge position failed to submit "one or some of their SALNs."

Also in her comment to Solicitor General Jose Calida's ouster petition, Sereno said 14 of the 20 candidates considered for the post, some of whom were eventually shortlisted, "failed to submit to the JBC all of their SALNs while in government service."

Also among those who were shortlisted were "Associate Justice Arturo Brion, then Associate Justice Roberto Abad, and Congressman Ronaldo D. Zamora," Sereno said.

These people, according to Sereno, had been "deemed to have substantially complied with the SALN requirement despite the non-submission of one or some of their SALNs."

Apart from failing to completely disclose her wealth through SALN submissions, Sereno is also accused of violating court policies, purchasing a "luxury vehicle," and earning a low mark in a psychological test that was part of her application to the highest judiciary post in the land. — RSJ, GMA News