On the Impeachment case:

Senate Urged to Ignore Bickering Between Parties in Corona Trial

A Catholic bishop called on senators not to be swayed by the squabbling between Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s defense team and the House prosecution panel.

“We are hoping that the proper bodies will not be unduly influenced by these obvious maneuvers by the two parties,” said Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez.

Iñiguez chairs the Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The prelate, however, noted that bickering between the opposing parties cannot be avoided especially in a highly-politicized issue like the impeachment trial of Corona.

“What is important is the judges will still be objective and rule on the matter based on the facts presented in the trial proper,” stressed Iñiguez.

The CBCP official, on the other hand, appealed to the public to be rational in following the impeachment trial which is set on January 16 and not be judgmental.

“We should be critical observers of the would-be proceedings, follow it closely, and not make judgments immediately,” he said.

Corona earlier asked the Senate impeachment court to impose sanctions against the House prosecution panel for releasing purported evidence against him over the media before his trial begins.

But the prosecution panel countered by accusing Corona of resorting to delaying tactics by attempting to side-track the main issue at hand. [CBCPNews]

SALNs of House Members are not secret

By Dionisio P. Tubianosa, MRS-PRIB

The Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net-Worth (SALN) of Members of the House of Representatives is open for scrutiny, House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap today said.

"We have a standing directive from Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. to keep our records open, especially to media. We do not discriminate," the House official said.

Atty. Ricardo Bering, chief of the House Records Bureau, also clarified that as custodians of the SALN records, "we just follow the law and the rules and procedures on the matter."

Atty. Bering said that a request for a certified true copy (CTC) is accomplished by the requesting person stating the specific purpose for the request to avoid that such records being used other than the intent of the law.

"For practicality, we also discourage the wholesale request of copies of the 285 Members of the House to avoid the situation that there could be more than one repository of the SALN records, and to maintain order and ensure the integrity of the records," the House official said.

Atty. Bering said that requesting parties could, during regular working hours, do their research at their office and copy the pertinent documents they need.