Duterte’s 2018 SALN available at Ombudsman: Palace

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the Malacañan Palace on November 28, 2019. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — Public can request for a copy of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for 2018 at the Office of the Ombudsman, Malacañang said on Friday.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement, in response to the “baseless” and “malicious” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ) claim that the President has yet to release his 2018 SALN.

Panelo told PCIJ to directly go to Ombudsman to furnish a copy of the President’s SALN for 2018.

“Accordingly, PCIJ may want to direct its request to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Office of the President, cannot dictate upon the Office of the Ombudsman the course of action it wishes to undertake relative to such request given that the latter is a separate and independent institution that we have no control of,” Panelo said in a statement.

“We take strong exception to the thoughts bordering to innuendo of a few that the failures of the PCIJ in getting a copy of the President’s SALN can be ascribed to the President’s policy on transparency. Such accusation is baseless if not malicious,” he added.

The PCIJ, in its report titled “Duterte’s secret SALN: The lie of his FOI (Freedom of Information)” and published on Dec. 11, accused Duterte of being a “most secretive President when it comes to the details of his wealth.”

PCIJ’s Malou Mangahas said in her report that eight months after the April 30 deadline for filing, Duterte’s SALN for 2018 is still kept as a secret, an indication that the Chief Executive “sticks out as the lie of his own FOI edict.”

“Duterte, a most secretive President when it comes to the details of his wealth, does not always do what he says,” the PCIJ report said.

“This would be the first time in the last 30 years that a President has not released a SALN, Since the SALN Law was enacted on Feb. 20, 1989, all five presidents before Duterte had publicly disclosed their annual SALNs without fail, year on year, via either the Office of the Ombudsman or the Office of the President,” it added.

Duterte’s office not repository of SALNs

Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution mandates a public officer or employees to submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities and net worth.

Republic Act 6714 designates the Ombudsman’s national office and the custodian of the SALNs of the President, Vice President, senior officials and star-rank military and police officers.

Panelo said it is “clear” that the Ombudsman is the “repository of the original SALNs of the President, the Vice President, and the Constitutional Officials.”

“The Office of the President is not the repository of the SALNs of the President,” he said.

“It is clear therefore that it is the Office of the Ombudsman where the said SALNs are kept and not the Office of the President,” the Palace official added.

Panelo also noted that the anti-graft body has issued new guidelines on public access to SALN of government officials, restricting Duterte to release his SALN.

Hence, there is a “mandated procedure” under the law to access the SALNs of public officials, the Palace official noted.

“Meron namang sinasabi ang Ombudsman na kasi gumagawa pa ng mga bagong guideline. Eh di hintayin nila yung mga guidelines. Ang importante, nag-file si Presidente. Iyun naman ang batas (Ombudsman has issued new guidelines. Wait for the guidelines. What’s important is the President already filed it, in compliance with the law),” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

File a case

Panelo said the President has complied with “what the Constitution or law requires – the timely submission of a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth.”

He then challenged the PCIJ to file a case against the Duterte, if it has evidence that the Chief Executive violates the Philippine laws in relation to the release of SALN.

“The law does not require the filer of SALN to produce a copy when he is requested to produce it. Iyan naman ang sinasabi ng batas (That’s what the law says),” he said.

“So kung ‘yung mga nagrereklamo, eh di mag-demanda sila kung sa akala nila na may nilalabag na batas ang Pangulo ng Pilipinas (So to those who are complaining, they can file a case if they think the Philippine President violates the law),” he added.