Aquino: Defects in Cabinet execs' SALNs do not justify Corona's non-disclosure

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines -- President Benigno Aquino III said the deficiencies in the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth of his Cabinet officials cannot be used by lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona to justify the non-disclosure of some of the magistrate’s assets.

“I think there is a very big difference between what Secretary Abad reported and what the Chief Justice reported. The point is Secretary Abad did report all of his assets,” Aquino said in a tete-a-tete with reporters Sunday evening.

He was referring to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad’s admission that he failed to disclose the market value and acquisition costs of his assets in his previous SALNs.

Aquino said Corona’s failure to declare some P31 million in cash -- the Chief Justice declared only P3 million in his SALN -- was “difficult to understand.”

“So can we say that both of them listed both of their assets? I don’t think that is the case,” he said.

Last week, Abad said he did not realize his failure to declare certain information in his past SALNs because his attention “has never been called” by the Civil Service Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman or the Commission on Appointments.

But he expressed willingness to rectify the errors in his listed assets.

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