Transparency & the new CJ : Will ‘Gods of Padre Faura’ bare SALNs at last?

It is too early to call a verdict: Will the courts open up under Sereno? Will she deliver “very good 18 years” or “very bad 18 years” in a judiciary long used to keeping the asset records of “the Gods of Padre Faura” under lock and key?

To lead by example, however, Sereno might have to start with herself. Thus far, she has disclosed only summaries of the data she enrolled in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) for the years 2009 and 2010. She did so in January 2012, at the start of the impeachment trial at the Senate of her predecessor Renato C. Corona – a trial triggered by the then chief justice’s failure to declare and disclose the true details of his wealth.

Being summaries, the data disclosed by Sereno barely honored the spirit of the SALN law, which stipulates the full and prompt disclosure of the asset records that all public officials and employees are required to file upon entry into office, every year within the April 30 deadline, and upon exit from public service.