The Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) must not be disclosed because of the ongoing investigations into corruption, but because ‘it is the right thing to do,’ Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said on Thursday.
In a press briefing, Acidre expressed concerns over calls for former and current public officials, especially those linked in the flood-control projects, to release their SALNs.
‘I think if ever we’re going to open the SALNs or to expand our facilitated access to the SALNs, it should be done in the spirit of good governance and transparency. If we open this just for the flood control, there’s already anticipation that sooner or later, it will be weaponized,’ the lawmaker explained.
He also said that copies of SALNs may be requested from the House secretariat as long as there is ‘legitimate reason.’
Revisions of the House’s SALN policy are also being discussed, according to Acidre, but no details have been made final.
Acidre said that the Congress is ‘one with the country’ in the proper facilitation of releasing SALNs.
‘We’re all hoping that members of the House will find a way of really satisfying this requirement of disclosing our SALN, not because there are investigations, [but] simply because it is the right thing to do. And we owe it to the people to be more transparent about our actual net worth,’ he noted.
However, the legislator also emphasized that it would be good if former Ako-Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co’s SALN is disclosed for ‘clarity.’
‘It would be nice for clarity. In fact, it should be historical. So we can see how rich he was before he became a congressman, and how rich he became during his term in office,’ Acidre pointed out.
Co is one among the many public officials linked to the anomalous flood control projects.
However, he has yet to appear before the hearings to answer allegations that he was part of a multi-million peso kickback scheme from government-funded infrastructure projects.
Last Wednesday, in a press briefing, Co’s legal counsel Atty. Ruy Rondain attested that Co’s wealth was earned through business ventures before the ex-congressman entered the government.
Amid the investigations on the corruption controversy, public officials have been called to release their SALNs.
In late October, all 24 senators made their SALNs public.
However, only 14 of the 317 members of the House have released their SALNs as of October 23.