EDITORIAL – Weapon for accountability

After five long years, new Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla has reversed an order of his unlamented predecessor, which effectively ended public access to the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth of government officials.

SALNs were routinely made accessible to the media until Samuel Martires was appointed ombudsman by then president Rodrigo Duterte.

Following the lead of the Supreme Court where he used to be an associate justice, Martires clamped down in 2020 on the public accessibility of the SALN – a requirement under the principles of transparency and accountability provided in the Constitution and Republic Act 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Some quarters think the corruption in infrastructure projects would not have reached such alarming proportions if the public had been able to monitor the assets and noticed unusual spikes in the wealth of lawmakers and public works officials.

Remulla is still drawing up the rules and procedures for accessing the SALNs. Restrictions are meant mainly to protect privacy and personal safety and prevent the misuse of the SALNs for malicious purposes.

Once the rules are finalized, the public expects leadership by example from officials. Four members of Congress, three of them belonging to the party-list Akbayan, had voluntarily released their SALNs at the start of September, but no one else followed their lead.

Public officials may follow if the example is set by President Marcos and Remulla themselves. The President, after all, jump-started the ongoing anti-corruption crackdown that has taken on a life of its own, hitting even his allies and relatives. He has nevertheless stood firm on his avowed commitment to transparency and clean government.

Remulla has also committed to transparency, which should go without saying for the ombudsman. He is hitting the ground running, making up for the years lost in the anti-corruption campaign under his predecessor.

Martires had cited the “vague law” and a “vague system” in the release of the SALNs. At one point, he proposed to send critics of his policy to prison for five years.

The SALNs had been “weaponized, Martires had said in explaining his move to keep the asset declarations under lock and key. But of course the SALN is a weapon – against corruption. This is a battle that the ombudsman is mandated by law to carry out. The President and Remulla can take the lead with the release of their SALNs.