MANILA, Philippines - Lawyers of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona cannot say whether the chief magistrate would be amending certain entries in his latest Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) when he files it at the end of this month. But Corona, who is facing an impeachment case before the Senate impeachment court for alleged "betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution," would surely be filing his SALN before the deadline set on April 30.
"We were not consulted (by the Chief Justice) basically because we believe there's no need. The SALN that are covered by the impeachment complaint pertains to the SALNs filed by the Chief Justice before the trial.
His obligation to file his SALN before the upcoming deadline is something he must do as incumbent Chief Justice. This isn't part of the impeachment proceeding," said Karen Jimeno, one of Corona's spokesperson. (Hannah Torregoza)
Reelection
Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could seek re-election as congresswoman of Pampanga's second district even if her bid to have her biometric data taken was denied, the Commission on Elections said Friday.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said that Mrs. Arroyo can seek re-election in the May 2013 midterm polls as long as she is not yet convicted of the crimes she is accused of. "She (Arroyo) can run again as long as she is not yet convicted and she does not transfer registration (to Quezon City)... she can run again. It's just that she cannot campaign since she is under hospital arrest." (Leslie Ann Aquino)
Prepaid Tickets
Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 has resumed selling prepaid or stored value tickets (SVT), relieving passengers from long queues at ticket booths and helping them save fare credits. This after the LRT Authority (LRTA) successfully repaired one of the three defective automatic fare collection system machines by reusing spare parts of obsolete units.
LRTA spokesperson Atty. Hernando Cabrera said they resumed production of some 50,000 SVTs to meet the daily passenger demand. Regular LRT patrons like students and employees usually prefer SVTs to save time from buying tickets every time they board the train facility and save fare credits due to exact fare deduction per trip. (Kris Bayos)
Feeding Program
The Jollibee Foundation says it will expand the coverage of its Busog, Lusog at Talino (BLT) school feeding program to cover more than 1,000 schools starting in June. Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) chairman and chief executive officer Tony Tan Caktiong made the pledge the other night during the 2012 Summit of BLT, which was participated in by educators, pupils, local officials and businessmen and corporations backing the school feeding program.
The two-day summit, dubbed "Soar High Together," was convened to reaffirm the commitment of the partner organizations in reducing hunger and improving nutrition. (Marvyn Benaning)
530 Nurses
Philhealth will deploy 530 registered nurses to different hospitals nationwide starting May 2, 2012 as part of its Customer Assistance, Relations and Empowerment Staff (CARES) program, which would lessen the problems encountered by its members and provide them with operational assistance.
During a Communication and News Exchange (CNEX) forum held at the Philippine Information Agency yesterday, PhilHealth President and CEO Dr. Eduardo Banzon said that Philhealth launched the program in order for their members to understand the essential information about their benefits. (Czarina Nicole Ong)
