MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution and defense camps continue to trade barbs on the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) of impeached Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, the subject of heated debates at the impeachment trial in the Senate.

Last Thursday, the prosecution team from the House of Representatives assailed the defense panel’s double-standard interpretation of the constitutional provision on betrayal of public trust, which, it claimed, is an attempt to justify the omission and untruthful declaration by the Chief Justice in his SALN.

“We are horrified at the effort of the defense to brush aside the Chief Justice’s failure to make an honest and truthful declaration on his net worth as nothing but an ‘unintentional omission’. Mr. Corona is not an ordinary public servant, he is the chief magistrate and being such, is expected to follow the law,” said Deputy Speaker Erin Tanada, one of the spokesmen of the prosecution panel.

Last Thursday, the defense panel claimed that the incomplete disclosure of the SALN was not a “punishable offense” and could be “subject to corrective actions… if not malicious or intentional.”

“The SALN requirement is not a ministerial activity, it is not an empty requirement in the law. No less than the Supreme Court has underscored in its several decisions in the past the significance and importance of the SALN,” Tañada explained.

Meanwhile, Corona’s lawyers said they are ready to establish before the Senate impeachment court how the chief magistrate and his wife were able to obtain an R11-million cash advance from Basa-Guidote Enterprise Inc. (BGEI), a company owned by the family of Corona’s wife and prove that the assets he acquired were not undervalued.

As far as the defense team of the Chief Justice is concerned, the witnesses and pieces of evidence being presented by the 11-man House prosecution panel is giving them an opportunity to strengthen their case to disprove the cases hurled against the chief justice.