Palace urges parties requesting SALN to follow procedure

FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. during a press conference at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan, Davao City on January 4, 2018. JOEY DALUMPINES/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Malacañang on Wednesday urged parties requesting for President Rodrigo Duterte’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) to follow the proper procedure to acquire the document.

Insisting that the President is not hiding anything despite his SALN not being publicly available, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said there were many avenues under existing laws to request for the document.

“I can’t actually consider (that) the President is concealing anything because as far as I know, he has filed his SALN,” he said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source.

He said “anyone” can request for the SALN provided that they complied with the requirements under Executive Order No. 2 on Freedom of Information (FOI) which mandates public officials to file and make available for scrutiny their SALN.

Last year, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said it made multiple requests for the President’s SALN but they were “tossed back and forth” between the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Roque, however, refused to comment saying he did not know the procedures PCIJ followed in requesting the SALN.

“I don’t know what procedure they followed because there is also a procedure provided in EO No. (2) and you have to comply with it regardless of who you are as a requesting party. So just ensure that you comply with the requirements,” he said.

He added: “There’s a mechanism to be followed, follow the mechanism.”

According to Roque, also an option for requesting parties is to file a petition for mandamus that seeks to compel the president to disclose his SALN.

“The remedy is to file a writ of mandamus if you must. But you need to exercise your rights,” he said.

In December last year, the Palace advised the public to request a copy of Duterte’s SALN from the Office of the Ombudsman, the repository of the original SALNs of the President, the Vice President, and members of constitutional bodies.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier announced that it has restricted access to public officials’ SALNs by requiring the consent of the statement’s owner before a SALN request can be evaluated by the Ombudsman’s office.

This came after the Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Solicitor General Jose Calida and a lawyer’s request for copies of Associate Justice Marvic Leonen’s SALN.