Rody Still Won’t Release SALN

President Duterte is still not releasing his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) to the public, according to his spokesman, who claimed that the Chief Executive “respects” the Office of the Ombudsman “who has the prerogative” on the matter.

A memorandum issued by Ombudsman Samuel Martires in September last year limits those who can access the SALN of public officials.

“Because there’s a new policy being implemented by the ombudsman as a constitutional body, we respect the prerogative of the ombudsman in this regard,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

Pressed on why the President cannot just voluntarily make public his SALN if he is really for transparency, Roque said: “He could, but he respects the ombudsman and he leaves it to the ombudsman.”

On Sunday, Aug. 29, Vice President Leni Robredo has dared Duterte to publicize his SALN for the sake of transparency and show that he is sincere in his fight against corruption.

Robredo made the challenge after Duterte vowed to scrutinize the budget of the entire government, including the Commission on Audit, if he gets elected vice president in 2022.

Duterte has said he is seeking the vice presidency in the May 2022 elections.

A report of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in July revealed that Duterte has not publicized his SALNs from 2018 to 2020.

Based on Martires’ controversial memo, the copy of the SALN will be furnished to the requester if he/she is the declarant or the duly authorized representative of the declarant; the request is upon lawful order of the court in relation to a pending case, and the request is made by the ombudsman office’s Field Investigation Office/Bureau/Unit (FIO/FIB/FIU) for the purpose of conducting fact-finding investigation.

“In all other instances, no SALN will be furnished to the requester unless he/she presents a notarized letter of authority from the declarant allowing the release of the requested SALN,” the memo read.

The memo also states that “all requests to inspect or to take picture of the SALN will be denied.”

Martires defended his memo, saying SALNs are being weaponized to bring down public officials.

On Monday, Aug. 30, Roque said Duterte has complied with his constitutional duty to file his SALNs and said it is up to the ombudsman to release them to the public.

Robredo challenged the President to publicize his SALNs after the latter vowed to scrutinize the budget of the entire government, including the Commission on Audit (COA), if he gets elected vice president in 2022.

Duterte was Irked by COA's flagging of several agencies over “deficiencies” in the use of public funds for 2020, including the Department of Health’s P67-billion budget for COVID-19 response, Duterte said he would audit all government agencies if he wins the vice presidency.

Roque urged those who are interested to get a copy of Duterte’s SALN to write a formal letter to the ombudsman.

“Interested parties may therefore wish to write a formal communication to the Office of the Ombudsman, which has copies of SALNs of all public officials, asking for a copy of the said document,” he said.