Make SALNs public again
If corruption is a disease,” former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan said once, “then transparency is a central part of its treatment.” The Philippines, however, is a special case where corruption resembles a stage 4 cancer that has metastasized through every vein and capillary of the officialdom.
Thus, the cure prescribed by the Nobel laureate must be far more aggressive, to cut out the rot exposed by the flood control scandal that has stirred national outrage and an unusually intense hunger for change. Such collective hankering mirrors, in spirit, if not quite in action, those chaotic protests in countries like Nepal and Indonesia.
One transparency measure worth discussing is the release of lawmakers’ statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs), as the Akbayan bloc has proposed for members of the House of Representatives.
On Sept. 10, Akbayan Representatives Chel Diokno, Percival Cendaña, and Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao filed House Resolution No. 271, which directs the Office of the Secretary General to make public all SALNs of House members.
“As representatives of the Filipino people, members of the House must lead by example by demonstrating their commitment to ethical conduct and accountability, thereby setting the tone for other public officials and employees,” they said.
All well and good.
Public’s right to know
But Filipinos understand that disclosure alone cannot cure a political class that has perfected the art of concealing wealth behind dummies and front businesses. The House may love to talk about transparency, but when it comes to baring members’ individual wealth, any paper trail of bank accounts, luxury cars, and mansions have a sudden tendency to vanish into thin air.
That is precisely why Republic Act No. 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, requires under Section 8 that all public officials and employees file their SALNs under oath—not just once, but within 30 days of assuming office, on or before April 30 of every year thereafter, and within 30 days after leaving office.
The law makes it explicit that the public has a right to know the assets, liabilities, net worth, and business interests of those who wield public power.
Alas, former Ombudsman Samuel Martires stomped on this legal right in 2020 when he restricted access to SALNs to such a degree that they became practically useless to the public. Under Martires’ memorandum circular, SALNs can only be accessed through a notarized authorization letter from the official concerned, a court order in connection with a pending case, or a fact-finding investigation conducted by a unit of the Ombudsman. Even commenting on these documents, Martires argued, could be deemed unlawful, a perverse reading of the law that effectively shielded erring officials.
Wall of secrecy
It is no coincidence that this wall of secrecy was built during a period of ballooning infrastructure budgets, sweetheart deals, and now, the grotesque P545.5-billion flood control scandal bearing lawmakers’ dirty fingerprints all over it.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, now angling for the Ombudsman post, has hinted that he would undo these restrictions and allow the public once again to scrutinize officials’ disclosures. If he is serious, this must go hand in hand with the Akbayan resolution—not merely publishing SALNs, but enforcing them with independent audits, lifestyle checks tethered to hard data, and real consequences for falsification and concealment.
After all, honest officials have no reason to shun transparency while crooks in government use every excuse to avoid it.
Whoever takes the helm as the next Ombudsman must put transparency on top of the agenda by restoring full public access to SALNs not only of House representatives but senators, too, and everyone in public office. Only a fearless Ombudsman willing to confront powerful interests can turn this into reality.
Congress has two choices
But here lies the deeper problem: SALNs are not fool proof. Any corrupt official will undervalue, omit, or camouflage assets under someone else’s name. Without verification, they are as useless as flood-control projects that never stop the floods.
And yet, despite these flaws, SALNs remain one of the few tools the public can use to pierce through the veil of official corruption. The 1987 Constitution enshrines these documents as instruments of accountability, designed to remind public servants that their power comes with the duty of transparency.
Ultimately, Congress has two choices. It can show the public that its members have nothing to hide by making their SALNs public or it can confirm the suspicion that the nation’s highest legislators are also the highest-paid contractors in disguise. And lawmakers be warned: such a decision must not be made lightly, for the people are paying close attention and growing more and more angry each day.
