PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

If

October 18, 2012 ~\\ ..•.

HON. MARTIN S. VILLARAMA JR.Associate JusticeSupreme Court of the PhilippinesPadre Faura Street, Manila

I)C'" 9 Z012

(OK c:Subject: PC/J's request for clarification re SALN

Dear Justice Villarama:

Greetings from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism! We hope this letterfinds you well.

'-,

We write in connection with a story that the PCIJ is doing about the Statements ofAssets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of the justices of the Supreme Court.

We have reviewed and validated the data enrolled in your 2000, 2007, and 2011SALNs, as well as relevant corporate records at the Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC), according to the spirit and letter of Republic Act No. 6713 (Code ofConduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) or the SALN Law.

As you are well aware of, The SALN Law aims to provide the public, not just thegovernment, a basis for "monitoring the income and lifestyle of public officials andemployees in compliance with the constitutional policy to eradicate corruption, topromote transparency in government, and to ensure that all government employees andofficials lead just and modest lives, with the end in view of curtailing and minimizing theopportunities for official corruption and maintaining a standard of honesty in the publicservice" (see, for instance, Oca v Usman, A.M. No. SCC-08-12)

In the spirit and letter of The SALN Law, we respectfully request you to please commenton the following matters:

1. In your 2007 SALN, you reported owning a real property in Angat, Bulacan that yousaid you inherited in 2000. This property was not enrolled, however, in your 2000SALN. Please explain.

3/F Criselda II Bldg., 107 Scout de Guia Street, Quezon City 1104 Philippines(() (632)41 04768-69 9293117 fax: (632) 929.3571

email: marketing@pcij.org PClj@pclj.orgweb: www.pcij.org www.i-site.ph

2. In your 2011 SALN, you reported a real property in Quezon City that you said youpurchased in 1973. This property was not reported, however, in your 2000 and 2007SALNs. Kindly clarify.

3. You reported the acquisition cost of your 1998 Honda car at P956,000 in your 2000SALN. In your 2007 SALN though you reported the acquisition cost of apparently thesame 1998 Honda car at only P495,000. Please explain.

4. In you 2000 and 2007 SALNs, you declared the same fair market values for two ofyour residential properties in Quezon City and a third one in Pasig City. Pleaseexplain.

5. Your publicly available SALNs show an increase in your net worth from P5.8 millionin 2000 to P19.07 million in 2011, or by P13.3 million (229 percent) in the last 11years. This happened even as you reported receiving a total annual salary fromyour long tenure in the judiciary of only P479,400 in your 2000 SALN, and P637,098in your 2007 SALN. Kindly clarify. '-~.

2007 8;847,292.20 52.32 %

2011

Declared NetWorth

(in peso)19,074,165.2

o

lncrease Jn Net Worth(in peso) .,.

CPres:snt yr- prBflious yr)

3,039,000.00

, Rate of Increase(Net wm:th incr.sasB/ _. ) X 100

'- . . prSVttnlS yrSALNYear

10,226,873.00 115.59 %

2000 5,808,292.20 N/A N/A

6. In your 2011 SALN, you reported that you received P2.992,298.02 in salary andallowances as associate justice of the Supreme Court.Please illfPr.111us: How muchof this total was your salary, and how much, your allowances? Did you pay theappropriate taxes on your allowances?

We would appreciate it if you could please respond to us as soon as practicable, orbefore October 25,2012.

If you have questions or clarifications, you may please ask your staff to contact me at410-4763,410-4769, or email at mcmangahas@pcij.org or research@pcij.org.

Thank you very much and best regards.

, Sincerely,

'i/rvc." ..1.,.(JI/I r~tr<-Pt/.L-Malou Mangahas ()Executive Director, PCIJ

K(\~J~~!a~Research Director, PCIJ

-.........•.•