The new Ombudsman, Jesus Crispin Remulla, has officially reopened public access to the statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) of public officials, effectively reversing the restriction imposed by his predecessor, Samuel Martires, who was appointed by former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“This decision is guided by a simple principle: the public has a legitimate right to know how those in government acquire and manage their wealth. Transparency in this area is not a slogan – it is a safeguard against corruption and a deterrent to abuse of power,” the Office of the Ombudsman said in a statement.
In 2020, the among the first acts of Martires as Ombudsman was to issue Memorandum Circular No. 1, which ordered that SALNs could be released only for official investigations, by court order, or if authorized by the SALN owners themselves. The requesting party had to present a notarized letter of authority from the declarant, effectively barring the public and the media from obtaining the documents unless permitted by the official concerned.
Under the new memorandum, the ombudsman now allows the public to access SALNs for “inspection and reproduction,” subject to reasonable limitations and procedural safeguards.
Some information will be redacted from the SALNs for privacy and security, including the complete address of the declarant, names, dates of birth and ages of unmarried children below 18 years old living under the declarant’s care, signatures and government-issued identification number of the declarant and co-declarant.
The new rules also require the requesting party who will publish or broadcast the SALNs to submit a copy of their reports to the ombudsman.
It also allows requesting parties to file a formal complaint with the Field Investigation Office if they have evidence of assets “manifestly disproportionate to income.”
Although it is refreshing to see that the Ombudsman has restored access to what was originally a public document required from public officials, that is just the bare minimum. It may be a good way to restart our campaign against corruption, but the fact of the matter is that Filipinos still have a long way to go.
Hopefully we can continue going in the right direction.*
