It’s good to hear President Duterte declaring he will give no quarter when it comes to public officials involved in corruption. The nation is waiting for these fighting words to be applied on his staunch supporters who have been embroiled in corruption scandals.
Some of these officials had to be eased out of their posts, but several were even “recycled” to less high-profile positions. Early in his term, the President said he would not tolerate “even a whiff” of corruption. But when congressional inquiries lead to calls from lawmakers for the indictment of some of his officials, Malacañang says proof must be presented against those accused of wrongdoing.
The President’s avowed hard line against corruption has yet to cascade to his political allies. Lawmakers are among the biggest violators of anti-graft laws, making them resist any proposal that promotes transparency and accountability, such as campaign finance reforms and easing of bank secrecy laws.
This resistance to reforms for good governance recently received a major boost from the supposed vanguard of transparency, the Office of the Ombudsman. Samuel Martires, who as a member of the Supreme Court had voted to oust the chief justice on the basis of a mere quo warranto petition in connection with her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, has barred public access to the SALNs of government officials. The ombudsman has also stopped employing lifestyle checks as a tool for ferreting out corruption.
Officials need not be bound by this prohibition; nothing stops them from releasing their SALNs for public scrutiny. Championing the fight against corruption, the Office of the President can set the example in promoting transparency by releasing the SALN of President Duterte, as Malacañang has always done. Other top officials can do the same: Vice President Leni Robredo, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and the head of the Supreme Court, bastion of financial opaqueness, Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.
Officials pushing transparency in government have said it often enough: those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear.