EDITORIAL - Defeating its own purpose

Several days ago the Ombudsman came out with a memorandum restricting access by the public to the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of public officials.

Based on Memorandum Circular No. 1 signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires, only the declarant of the SALN and “officers conducting investigations” can access SALNs without hassle.

Just to make it clear, the order has not totally blocked the public and those who want access to the SALNs of certain officials. It is just making it more difficult for them to do so, as they have to present a notarized letter of authority from the SALN declarant allowing the release of the requested SALN, plus two original valid IDs. One of these has to be a government-issued ID showing the requester’s photograph and signature.

Nevermind the IDs, it’s the notarized letter of authority from the SALN declarant that is the clincher.

So, yes, if a SALN declarant doesn’t issue you a letter allowing you access to his or her SALN, there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. Do you see what’s wrong here? If an official does have something to hide and he/she knows that his/her SALN will likely reveal it, all he/she has to do is block access to it, problem solved.

People are understandably upset about this development. Some say it is helping the culture of corruption in the country become even more entrenched.

Those who defend this memo say that it is to protect officials from having their SALNs used against them, like in the case of the late ex-chief justice Renato Corona. But should we sacrifice public interest just so we can protect those few who may fall because of what is seen in their SALN?

The SALN was created for the purpose of transparency. It was created to allow people a look into the lifestyle of certain officials to see if something is out of the ordinary. In short it was created to discourage corruption, and has also been used many times to weed out irregularities.

Also, freedom to access such information as also provided for under Article 11, Section 17 of the Constitution, which states “a public officer or employee shall, upon assumption of office and as often thereafter as may be required by law, submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth. In the case of the President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Commissions and other constitutional offices, and officers of the armed forces with general or flag rank, the declaration shall be disclosed to the public in the manner provided by law.”

If access is to SALN is being restricted to certain eyes, or made difficult --if not impossible-- to access, then that would defeat the very purpose for which it was created.