Corona camp's plan to present other govt execs' SALNs hit

Chief Justice Renato Corona cannot use omissions by other government officials to justify his alleged failure to disclose details of his properties in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), the prosecution team said Sunday.   Deputy Speaker Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, prosecution spokesperson, said he was “appalled” by Corona’s lawyers plan to present SALNs of other government officials to show that it is “common practice” not to declare acquisition costs of properties in these documents.   “Corona’s lawyers cannot compare the chief justice with other people in government. Being the country’s chief magistrate, he must be whiter than white. Corona holds a position that exacts greater demand for moral righteousness and uprightness,” he said in a statement Sunday.   He added that Corona clearly “transgressed the Constitution” when he supposedly failed to declare the acquisition costs of his properties in all his SALNs since he entered government in 1992.   The defense camp in Corona’s impeachment trial revealed plans to use other government officials’ SALNs as evidence to prove that the chief justice did not commit any grave offense when he did not fill out the acquisition cost column in all his SALNs.   Corona is currently being tried at the Senate for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution for alleged inconsistencies in his SALN.   Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who presides over the trial, however, said that he is not inclined to allow the defense team to use other officials’ SALNs as evidence, since such a move will be “irrelevant” and “immaterial” to the case.   Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo, another prosecution spokesman, said Corona denied the public the opportunity to monitor the movement of his fortune while in government when he failed to declare the acquisition costs of his properties.   “Public officials and employees are required to make a complete disclosure of their assets, liabilities and net worth in order to suppress any questionable accumulation of wealth. It’s the bellwether for corruption,” he said in the same statement.   Corona’s trial will resume on Monday, when the defense team is expected to continue presenting evidence to rebut the prosecution’s claims of Corona’s alleged misdeeds. — KBK, GMA News