House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima on Sunday called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to disclose his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) to the public and direct his cabinet to do the same.
De Lima made the call after stating that if the current administration is truly dead set in going against corruption, it should begin with itself.
‘All-out means no cover-ups, no sacred cows, and no stone left unturned. And the administration should not exempt itself from scrutiny,’ said De Lima in a statement.
‘The President should demonstrate his sincerity and commitment to transparency and accountability by disclosing his SALN and encouraging his Cabinet to do the same,’ she added, noting that this is consistent with Marcos’ prioritization of the Freedom of Information Act in the 20th Congress.
Doing so, said De Lima, would allow him to prove that he is different from his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who never made his SALN public-despite his supposed stance against corruption-and was even shielded by the Ombudsman at the time.
‘Hindi pwedeng hanggang salita lang ang paglaban sa korupsyon, yung biglang kambyo at ang dami pang kuskos-balungos sa simpleng paglalabas ng SALN,’ she said.
(The fight against corruption can’t be all talk, there shouldn’t be sudden excuses or so much fuss over something as simple as releasing the SALN.)
Akbayan Partylist Rep. Perci Cendaña echoed De Lima’s sentiment in a separate statement, also pointing out how Duterte-appointee Ombudsman Samuel Martires previously added barriers to accessing public officials’ SALNs.
‘If the Marcos admin is serious in earning the public’s trust in its fight against corruption then it has to start in its own backyard,’ he said.
It was only early this month when newly-installed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla lifted restrictions on public access to SALN of government officials, effectively reversing the policy imposed by former chief Martires.
The restrictions were lifted amid allegations of widespread corruption in infrastructure projects, particularly in flood control, where several projects reported as completed turned out to be non-existent, despite billions of pesos allocated from the budget.