More senators have expressed willingness to publicize their statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), believing that making it available to the public would help curb corruption as well as win back the trust of the public in the government.
In separate ambush interviews on Wednesday, Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Francis Pangilinan welcomed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s memorandum, which lifted restrictions on SALNs previously issued by his predecessor, Samuel Martires.
Gatchalian, for his part, particularly said he sees no security concern about making SALN public, explaining that if officials stay true to their declarations, then there would be no problem.
‘This is one way of bringing the confidence of the public back to the government. Because now there is low public trust and confidence. So this is a way to bring back confidence,’ said Gatchalian.
‘For me, if you are not hiding anything, then there would be no issue about making SALN public. Like in my case, if someone requests for it, I have not turned down a single request for SALN. Especially those who are requesting it are media outfits and CSOs. So far, I have not yet received a request from a doubtful identity,’ he said.
According to Gatchalian, none of the senators he had a chance to exchange conversation with had issues about publicizing their SALNs.
‘Everyone is ready to show their SALN. Because now, the procedure is by request. Maybe for us to see if the requesting party is a legitimate organization, but in terms of disclosing SALN, I have talked to some of my fellow senators, and none of them have raised a problem,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Pangilinan argued that under the law, SALNs clearly need to be made available for transparency and accountability.
When he was asked if it could help prevent corruption, Pangilinan answered in the affirmative.
‘Definitely, because the anti-graft laws indicate that if an income does not commensurate someone’s wealth, then that’s already prima facie evidence that that is ill-gotten. It’s now the burden of proof on the part of the public official to prove that it’s not ill-gotten,’ said Pangilinan.
Apart from Pangilinan and Gatchalian, their colleagues Sens. Robin Padilla, Risa Hontiveros, and Bam Aquino likewise welcomed the new memorandum.
Padilla, in a post on Facebook, even volunteered to publicize his SALN first.
‘Similar to my speech in the Senate plenary about Freedom of Information, let us now publicize our SALN. Let the Senate accept the challenge of the new Ombudsman! Publicize my SALN first,’ he said.
In a separate statement issued also on Wednesday, Hontiveros called the previously-imposed SALN restrictions as unconstitutional, anti-people, and unjust.
‘As always, I am willing to release my SALN, in accordance with Senate rules and policies,’ she said.
‘The new rules should be applied equally on all public officials – from the highest to the lowest, past or present – even with reasonable limitations related to personal or sensitive information and security,’ she added.
Aquino made the same remark, noting that this is one of the first steps towards a clean and transparent government.
‘Normalizing transparency is important, and this is one of the steps towards a clean and transparent government,’ he said
Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier said he would likely call for a caucus to discuss the ombudsman’s new memorandum with his colleagues. /mr