MANILA, Philippines—“I am wondering why are we so interested in the SALNs of the President and the Vice President? Why are we not interested in the SALNs of other government
Ombudsman Samuel Martires, who was appointed as associate justice in 2017 and took office as Ombudsman in 2018, posed this question on Thursday , during a hearing on the proposed P3.967 billion 2022 budget for the Office of the Ombudsman.
For most of them, there was an increase in their declared net worth—starting from their first year in office until they stepped down. Amid the call for the release of Duterte’s SALN, the Office of the Ombudsman issued a memorandum circular saying it would no longer grant public access to SALNs without the concerned officials’ consent.
“The form shall be made readily available to the declarant upon his or her request in writing to the Ombudsman. The form shall be kept by the custodian of the SALN,” it said. The law said that SALNs must be made accessible for inspection at reasonable hours and must be available to the public for 10 years from receipt of the record.
“It does not carry out the spirit of the law which means that public office is a public trust and therefore you are supposed to be transparent,” Morales said in an interview, regarding the restriction of public access to the SALN of officials. Vice President Leni Robredo said she believed that making SALNs public, especially for officials occupying high positions, is an anti-corruption device.
“I want to reconcile 6713 with 3019 on the SALN to provide safety nets so that a SALN can be published but no person should be allowed to comment on the SALN of a particular government official or employee,” Martires said. “Isn’t it dangerous to penalize our people if they ask questions because freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution and also the principle of transparency and accountability?” said Zarate who was also present during the budget hearing.
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