THE Supreme Court will maintain its guidelines for the release of the Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) of the members of the judiciary to the public.
This is despite the request of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla for the judiciary and other branches of the government to align their rules in releasing SALNs to the public to the memorandum he issued last October 14 which simplifies the requirements for public access to SALNs filed with his office.
The Ombudsman said the new guidelines are in line with the principle that ‘the public has a legitimate right to know how those in government acquire and manage their wealth.’
Ting stressed that the Court upholds the public’s constitutional right to access information, records, and documents in its custody, subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law.
Ting noted that under A.M. No. 09-8-6-SC, copies of the Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), Personal Data Sheets (PDS), and Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the Justices of the SC are requested from the Office of the Clerk of Court and are subject to the approval of the Court En Banc.
Requests must be made in writing using the SALN/PDS/CV Request Form available on the SC website and must state the specific purpose for which the information is sought.
Media requests must include proof of media affiliation and accreditation.
The SC spokesman, however, noted that the Court is currently updating its rules and forms on access to information.
When asked if the said requirements are too tedious, Ting replied: ‘ Well, under the laws actually there are some exceptions to releasing of the SALNs especially we have to consider the privacy concerns also of the people. So. That’s also one of the reasons why it has to be approved by the banc.’
Ting added that the justices would have to check which information needs to be redacted to protect the privacy of the justices.
The SC spokesman, however, admitted that the rules do not provide the timeline within which the request for SALN should be included in the agenda and acted upon by the Court.
‘Usually, we wait for the resolution approving the request and then we can release the SALN already,’ Ting explained.