Ombudsman Receives Request from Akbayan Over SALNs within its Repository
The Akbayan Party-list requested the Office of the Ombudsman to release the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of President Bongbong Marcos and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte among others.
Ombudsman Boying Remulla reopened the SALN of the government officials to the public. He issued a memorandum that reversed the circular that placed restrictions on the SALN access during the term of former Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
Remulla called on the lawmakers to voluntarily disclose their SALN. Several senators immediately heed the call and issued copies of the records of their assets, liabilities, and net worth to the public.
Then, the House of Representatives said they are ready to craft rules with regards to the disclosure of the said records, Meanwhile, House Speaker Bojie Dy released a copy of his SALN amid the corruption issue in the Philippine government. He declared a net worth of P74.01 million.
While all senators have released copies of their SALNs, some members of the House of Representatives voluntarily publicized their net worth as well. Amid it, the Akbayan Party-list submitted a request to the Office of the Ombudsman.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Akbayan Party-list requested the office of Ombudsman Boying Remulla to release the SALN of Pres. Bongbong Marcos, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, and the other constitutional commission officials. The group also sought for the SALN of former Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
“Para sa atin kasi ito ay test of this government’s seriousness on really making sure that transparency and accountability are the rule of the land lalo na sa harap ng massive corruption scandal sa infrastructure at lalo na sa flood control,” Akbayan President Rafaela David said.
The memorandum of Ombudsman Boying Remulla removed the request for a consent from the SALN owner before the release of the document to the requester. Based on the report, then, during the term of Martires whose SALN is also being sought by the Akbayan party-list, the requesting parties should secure a written and notarized consent from a public official before the release of the records.
As of this writing, there are still no statements from the camps of Marcos Jr., Duterte, and the constitutional commission officials. Remulla has yet to speak on the request as well. Previously, Malacañang said that Pres. Bongbong Marcos will only release his SALN to the proper authorities.