Landbank exec indicted for perjury

A branch manager of state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines has been indicted in the Sandiganbayan for five counts of perjury over the alleged intentional errors in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

In a statement, the Office of the Ombudsman said Artemio San Juan Jr. made “false declarations” in the SALNs he had submitted from 1999 to 2003.

“By making wrongful declarations and omitting to declare his business interests, various bank accounts and shares of stocks that he owned for several consecutive years, (San Juan) did not submit a true detailed sworn statement of assets and sources of income,” the Ombudsman said.

In its resolution, the antigraft body said it was “highly implausible that these wrongful declarations and omissions were inadvertently made, considering these were committed several times and for consecutive years.”

It said the Landbank official intentionally omitted from his SALN his ownership of

Julia Club and Restaurant Company, bank deposits amounting to P9.1 million and another P8.6-million worth of stocks.

The Ombudsman said Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code defined Perjury as “willful and corrupt assertion of a falsehood under oath or affirmation administered by authority of law on a material matter.”