"x x x.
Remember Delsa Flores, the court interpreter in Panabo, Davao del Norte who was fired in 1997 when she failed to declare in her assets and liabilities statement or SALN a market stall she was renting out? Her retirement benefits were forfeited and she was barred from government employment – as long as she lived. It was a unanimous Supreme Court decision.
I am thinking of her as the Supreme Court prepares to decide in January a case similar to hers, that of Renato Corona. The former chief justice – who was impeached and convicted for not being truthful in his SALN – is asking the Court to give him his retirement pay which, he believes, is due him.
Dear Delsa,
This may be all behind you now but I’m writing you to let you know that the story of Renato Corona is not yet over.
Let’s look back to May 2012.
During the historic vote, when majority of the senators judged Corona guilty of dishonesty, hiding his true multi-million peso wealth in his SALN, you became the poster woman for equal justice.
From nowhere, your name became a byword, entered into the Senate records, there to stay forever. You were the compelling reason to convict the highest official in the judiciary.
“The law for Juan is also the law for Renato,” Senator Aquilino Pimentel III intoned, leaving us with a most memorable line.
Senators Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, and Francis Pangilinan argued convincingly that if a lowly court employee like you got the ax for not declaring a much lesser asset, then a higher standard should apply to the chief justice.
Immediately, reporters sought you for comment. I watched you on TV, with your silver hair and faint smile, say: “Pareho lang pala kami, (We are just the same).”
You said you followed the impeachment trial from your home in Panabo. You’ve regretted your infractions and moved on; you have since set up a small business, a laundry shop, next to your house. As a widow and mother of 4, you’ve coped remarkably well, even without your retirement funds that could have helped tide you over.
In another interview, you were more exuberant. “Very happy ako,” you said, and continued, “Siya, the highest court, ako na maliit lang. Patas lang kami pala (He’s with the highest court while I’m just a lowly employee. We’re even.)”
But are you and Corona truly equal? This we have yet to see.
Retirement
Corona has asked the Court to grant him his retirement package. You would think that his P180-million unexplained wealth would cushion him and his wife for the rest of their lives.
Anyway, the retirement pay is hefty (some say it can reach a high of P20 million) as it includes the equivalent of one-month salary and allowance for every year of government service. Since Corona joined government in the 1990s, during the term of President Ramos, he must have logged in about 20 years in government service.
There’s more. Justices who retire are “usually entitled to monetize their accumulated vacation and sick leaves.” The total sum representing the first 5 years of benefits are normally paid in advance in one lump sum, explains former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban in his column. Starting on the 6th year, retirees are paid the monthly salary and allowance of an incumbent.
Delsa, I know that your retirement pay is measly compared to this. But, on principle, the Court unanimously decided to withhold it, as part of your punishment.
This time, some in the Court appear to favor Corona. Why? Out of personal friendship, I guess. Besides, they are not giving away their own money. They think they are entitled to be generous with other people’s money but that’s ours, taxpayers’ hard-earned pesos.
They may also say that’s there’s no precedent – you’re not considered a precedent because you were not a Supreme Court justice and you were not impeached – so they can rely on their discretion. Never mind the rule of law. Never mind your case and those of others.
Have you heard of Norberto Doblada, a sheriff in a regional trial court in Pasig City? He did not declare ownership of a fish cage which cost P300,000. He also belatedly declared his assets, including a P2.5-million fish pen and his financial interest in a company in Australia, where his daughter lived.
The happy ending was: Doblada was sacked in 1995 and his retirement benefits were taken away. Corona was one of 12 Supreme Court justices who concurred in this decision.
But, as you may already know, some in the Court tend to protect their own. If they turn out to be the majority, then the law for you and Doblada is not the law for Corona.
I did not mean to unsettle your holiday season. My hope is that, through your story, we can keep you mantra of equal justice true and alive.
Yours sincerely,
Marites
x x x."
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