(Editor's intro: Raissa, foreign correspondent for South China Morning Post and Radio Netherlands, is an independent blogger.)

Chief Justice Renato Corona’s lawyers would like the public to believe that the under declarations and omissions in his SALNs (Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) are all “not intentional."

What the lawyers aren’t saying is that CJ Corona was a tax and corporate lawyer who once worked for two banks and for SGV & Company, the country’s largest auditing firm.

Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, Corona’s lead counsel, argued last Thursday (Feb 2) that:

"To us, it’s our humble opinion your honor that if there may have been discrepancies, inaccuracies, incompleteness…(in his SALNs) these can be remedied after a review of the SALN is made. If it’s not intentional your honor, no criminal liability nor administrative liability is incurred by the filing official. The law of the matter is very clear."

Cuevas unwittingly provides the key to convicting Corona when he said – “if it’s not intentional…”

Using Cuevas’ arguments, this means that if CJ Corona intentionally made omissions and misdeclarations in his SALN, then he has both criminal and administrative liability.