Rolando Andaya: House following Supreme Court on strict SALN access

MANILA, Philippines — Congressmen want to follow the footsteps of Supreme Court justices and members of constitutional commissions in limiting access to their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), according to Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr.

“The House of Representatives is trying to be at par with constitutional offices on access to SALNs,” he told The Chiefs show on One News Cignal TV on Monday night.

Andaya, appropriations committee chairman, had a hard time defending the stringent requirements an interested media practitioner or citizen has to comply with before the SALN of even just one House member can be obtained.

He said once the requesting party submits all required data and papers, his request goes to the SALN review committee, then to the committee on rules and the House proper has to approve it in plenary.

“That is the process and this was the decision of the majority. I hope the majority leader could explain it better,” he said.

He was referring to Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, who claimed that the stringent rules actually made media and public access to the wealth statements of House members easier and not more difficult and nearly impossible as asserted by opposition congressmen.

Andaya added that he would not dare say that obtaining a SALN copy is easier under the approved rules.

He also said he has no problem if Congress passes a law making available to the media and the public the SALNs of bureaucrats.

Opposition congressmen have criticized the rules as repressive and a shield for corrupt lawmakers. 

They said the requirements would make it nearly impossible for one to obtain a SALN copy.

Aside from plenary approval of a request, the requesting party has to pay a fee of P300 for every copy. He has to shell out P90,000 to access the wealth statements of nearly 300 House members.

If a request is approved, certain information on the SALN filer, his wealth, children and financial and business interest would be redacted, blackened and crossed out in a way that these would not be readable. 

In claiming the rules made access easier, Castro said, “The days of tedious and expensive way of seeking copies of SALN of lawmakers are over. Requesting parties no longer have to ask the courts to issue a subpoena. They merely follow simple procedure provided under Resolution No. 2467.”

He said a summary of the assets, liabilities and net worth of House members would be released to the media earlier than in previous years.

“Within 20 days after the last day of filing of SALN (on April 30), the media will have to be given copies of the summary,” he said.

He added that the resolution containing the rules “remains faithful to the principle of transparency.”

Castro pointed out that the House-approved procedure is similar to that adopted by the Supreme Court.