By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
WHERE did the money go?
Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno has failed to disclose in her statement of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN) the millions of pesos she earned as a lawyer and legal consultant in the controversial Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) case involving the disputed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
Nowhere in Sereno’s four-page SALN submitted on April 29, 2011 could her Piatco fees be found.
The SALN, a copy of which was obtained by The Manila Times, covered the year 2010 when Sereno was believed to have already received her fees as a legal consultant in the case for sometime.
Sereno was appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in August 2010.
The chief magistrate, who is married to Mario Jose Sereno and living at 31 Hunt St., Filinvest Homes East, Antipolo City, Rizal province, had an annual income then of P874,000.
Sereno’s total net worth stood at P17,904,510.14, with a liability of P142,342.88 from her credit card billings.
Assets
Based on vouchers of payments from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) that The Times gathered, it was learned that foreign lawyers, local lawyers and consultants, including Sereno and her mentor, retired Justice Florentino Feliciano, got a whopping P2.6 billion from the Piatco case.
Previous reports indicated that Sereno could have earned for herself at least P25 million from the Singapore arbitration alone.
In contrast, her bank accounts that were declared in her 2011 SALN only showed deposits of P1,512,932.15. The banks were not specified in the document.
The SALN did not indicate where her Piatco earnings were reflected.
Sereno has stated in her Personal Data Sheet that she was a legal counsel from 1994 to 2008 in “various government agencies—Office of the President, Office of the Solicitor General, Manila International Airport Authority, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, WTO-AFTA Commission, Philippine Coconut Authority.”
She described her nature of work as “Legal-various international trade and investment law disputes in WTO (Geneva), ICSID (Washington DC), in ICC-ICA (Singapore, Paris) and in bilateral dispute resolution mechanism.”
He other personal properties include three vehicles: a Toyota Altis acquired in 2005 for P760,000; a Toyota Corolla acquired before 2000 in the amount of P320,000; and a Mitsubishi Lancer (second hand) bought in 2002 for P95,000.
Sereno also provided an additional page for her personal properties under Table A of the document which include investments in the amount of P1,505,885.54.
She also declared stock investments in the total amount of P1,675,748 which was listed under Table B. Four of the investments—in Sudeco, Seaport, RFM and Uniwide—are in her husband’s name. Sereno is also a minor stockholder in the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
As to her real properties, the first page of Sereno’s SALN showed that she has three houses and a memorial lot in Cavite province.
Her residential house in Antipolo City, purchased in 2005, had a fair market value of P6 million. The land and the building was worth P4.5 million and the improvements were worth P1 million.
The second real property is located in Cavite and was purchased in 2003 with a current fair market value then of P1,375,000. The land and building acquisition cost amounted to P671,500 and the improvements, P350,000.
The third house and lot is in Davao province and was acquired before 2000 in the amount of P1.8 million. The memorial lot in Cavite that was purchased before 2000 amounted to only P60,000.
The cars, bank accounts and other properties were worth P9,523,010.14.
Piatco case
The Philippine government has paid the attorneys’ fees and expenses amounting to P2.65 billion in connection with the NAIA 3 case filed by both German airport operator Fraport AG and Piatco.
Sereno and Feliciano were among the recipients of the huge amount of money for defending the Philippine government.
The Times was able to obtain a thick file of documents containing the disbursement vouchers made by the MIAA and confidential requests for payments made by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to cover the payment for the OSG lawyers, International counsel White and Case Law office, and consultants Sereno and Feliciano.
A Justice who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity pointed out that the legal team that handled the case made the Philippine government a “milking cow” for having perks such as accommodations in expensive hotels and skyrocketing allowances and salaries.
Observers said that Sereno was appointed as Associate Justice by President Benigno Aquino 3rd as a reward for winning the case in the first round. The case suffered a setback after a final decision of an Ad Hoc Committee in Washington overturned the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid) ruling.
Several disbursement vouchers were made, signed and paid by MIAA General Managers Edgardo Manda and Alfonso Cusi, including their representatives Oscar Paras Jr., Marcelino Yumol Jr. and Arlene Britanico.
The documents showed that White and Case LLP and Lista Barristers demanded payments from the OSG which, in turn, would make the request before the MIAA. Most of the billings made by the OSG to MIAA were in US dollars but was converted to the local currency.
It was discovered that several payments were made as early as November 23, 2003 as indicated by a disbursement voucher in the amount of P300,000 and signed by then MIAA officer in charge Yumol and NAIA 3 Project Manager Florencio Montalbo Jr.
The voucher stated “cash advance to defray expenses re Hotel accommodations and transport services of four (4) lawyers from Whitecase, Washington DC as per attacked docs/request.”
From starting payments of P300,000 it skyrocketed to additional payments in the amounts of $3 million or more than some P120 million at that time.
More than 20 disbursement vouchers were obtained by The Times showing MIAA’s payments to OSG to defray the supposed expenses and allowances of Sereno, Feliciano and others.
Waiver
On Monday, no less than Sereno’s law classmate and Integrated Bar of the Philippines President Roan Libarios dared her to issue waivers for her wealth and mental health in the interest of transparency.
Although Sereno had said that she would order the unconditional release of her SALN, a check with the office of the Clerk of Court showed that she has yet to issue a formal order.
Sereno’s ability to lead the judiciary was put in question following the discovery of a psychiatric report that gave her a very poor mark of four. The report said that Sereno was “dramatic, self righteous and depressive” and that these traits could affect her judgment.
Malacañang, however, dismissed the issues as water under the bridge and added that Aquino had already made the decision and that nobody could change that.
CBCP support
Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that Sereno needs public support and prayer.
CBCP President and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, on CBCP News posted on Tuesday, urged the public to give support and prayer for her health and wisdom.
He also called on the public to respect President Aquino’s appointment of the new Supreme Court chief justice.
“We should give due respect to the choice of our President in choosing the new Supreme Court Chief Justice,” Palma said.
“It’s true as per records that the Chief Justice has decisions that gave some hints of her support for the President but as I’ve said it is the moment that we should give her respect, trust and prayer,” he added.
Ampatuan massacre
For his part, Sen. Franklin Drilon urged Sereno to appoint one assisting judge to the trial judge handling the Maguindanao massacre case and to add more trial days.
Drilon on Wednesday said that the Ampatuan massacre case is a challenge to Sereno.
“This is a challenge to the government and the judiciary. This is a major factor that will restore the people’s confidence in our justice system if the Ampatuan case can be fast-tracked.”
He said that the slow-paced prosecution of the accused in the case is the primary cause of disenchantment in the justice system.
“Whether we like it or not, the principal source of this disenchantment with the justice system is the long pendency of the Ampatuan case,” Drilon said after the hearing on the budget of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
He said that Sereno can add assisting judges to the single trial judge to facilitate the case.
He also called on Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa to process the appointment of 241 nominees for prosecutors which are pending before the Office of the President.
Arroyo trial
At the Lower House, the opposition bloc asked the new chief magistrate to give a fair trial to former president and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga province.
House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez of Quezon province made the statement on the day that Sereno delivered her first public speech as Chief Justice before the Presidents of Law Associations in Asia.
“We wish to be reassured that the various cases filed against our colleague in the Minority, former president Gloria Arroyo, will be given a fair and impartial hearing, as, if and when they may reach the justices,” Suarez said in a press conference.
Mrs. Arroyo, who is suffering from a lingering bone ailment, is facing electoral sabotage, plunder, two counts of graft, violation of code of conduct and ethical standards cases. If she loses it in the lower courts, she can always make an appeal before the Supreme Court.
Of the 14 justices of the Supreme Court, 11 were appointed during the Arroyo administration. Sereno was the first appointee of Aquino in the high court.
With reports from Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz, Ritchie A. Horario and Llanesca T. Panti
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