Eight months after the deadline, President Rodrigo Duterte’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) for the year 2018 has yet to be disclosed to the public by the government, despite his promises of transparency.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported on Wednesday, December 11, that the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the President still has not released a copy of the President’s SALN to the media, in spite of the laws of transparency to the public interest required of every public official.
“This would be the first time in the last 30 years that a President has not released his or her SALN,” said the report written by PCIJ executive director Malou Mangahas.
“Since the SALN Law was enacted on Feb 20, 1989, all 5 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,” read the report.
The SALN is a document containing details of the increase or decrease of a public official’s wealth, which includes their total assets and liabilities—business and financial interests—that make up their net worth. Their SALN will be used to check if the public official is involved in corrupt activities.
PCIJ also reported that their multiple separate requests for the document to be released publicly “have been tossed back and forth between the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Office of the Ombudsman.”
The report further stated that the requests to release the SALNs that were filed from June to November 2019 were all denied because the Ombudsman has not finalized the new guidelines on releasing the President’s and other senior public official’s SALN—which has been promised since 2019.
“Not one of the offices involved has bothered explaining why there has been a sudden need for new guidelines,” PCIJ added.
When PCIJ told Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires that the new guidelines that have not been issued yet is just an excuse for them to not release the President’s SALN, he replied with, “Kasi ang hinahanap ko rin, ano ang… authority namin mag-release ng SALN (You see, I am also trying to look for… what authority we have to release SALNs.)”
According to the SALN Law (Republic Act No. 6713), “Any and all statements filed under this Act, shall be made available for inspection at reasonable hours,” and that the Ombudsman is the supposed custodian of the SALNs of the President, Vice President, senior officials, star-rank military, and police officers.
The Palace had sent a reply-letter to PCIJ that advised them to wait a little bit longer for the Ombudsman to release the document, stating that the Ombudsman “neither granted nor denied their request for a copy of the President’s SALN but merely held processing thereof in abeyance.”