Manila: Chief Justice Renato Corona has questioned President Beinigno Aquino's assets as well as mental soundness in a stinging retort to latter's remarks.
In a statement issued in response to Aquino's criticism that he refused to make public his statement of assets, liability and net worth (SALN), Corona said contrary to what the president claimed of him, he had revealed the details but he did not make them public.
"I have reported my SALN. I am not hiding it," he said in Filipino. He added that he did not publish it like other public officials are required to do because the Supreme Court forbids it on the basis of a rule adopted two decades ago as part of security measures for members of the Supreme Court.
"I will bare my SALN when the proper time comes based on the impeachment process," he said. Corona has been undergoing impeachment trial since December over alleged corruption among others.
Corona, in his response to Aquino's comments made before students of the La Consolacion College in Manila on Thursday, said if the Philippine head of state is questioning the truthfulness of his SALN, he is questioning the latter's psychological state.
Speculations
It would be better if the president explain the contents to his SALN himself, Corona said. "Just as well, you should also include details of your bank accounts and psychological records, which had long been subject of speculations," he said.
Corona was presumed to have been referring to an evaluation on Aquino in the early 1980s by a Boston-based psychiatrist Dr Steven Aguilar. Reacting to Corona's remarks, Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte insisted the supposed records on Aquino's alleged mental health simply do not exist.
