Palace respects Ombudsman’s ‘constitutional prerogative’ on SALN

During a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said those who would request for SALN of the government officials, including President Rodrigo Duterte, would have to comply with the procedures prescribed by the Office of the Ombudsman. (PCOO file photo)

MANILA – Malacañang on Thursday said it respects the “constitutional prerogative” of the Office of the Ombudsman to restrict public and media access to the statement of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN) of government officials.

During a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said those who would request for SALN of the government officials, including President Rodrigo Duterte, would have to comply with the procedures prescribed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Roque said the Office of the Ombudsman is an independent constitutional body that is mandated to promote accountability of public officers.

“We respect po the constitutional prerogative of a constitutional body such as the Ombudsman. We will leave the matter to the Ombudsman. We respect his (Ombudsman Samuel Martires’) prerogatives,” Roque said.

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.

“The remedy is to go to the Ombudsman for a copy of the SALN, if you’re not able to get it from the agency itself but you have to comply with requirements of the Ombudsman,” Roque said.

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.