Duterte filed SALN, not hiding anything from public —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte has filed his asset statements in the last two years even as copies of the public documents were not immediately available, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said copies of the 2018 and 2019 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) could be accessed by filing a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

“I do not know if that has not been made available. But what I’m sure about is, it has been filed,” Roque said in a televised briefing.

“I don’t think the President is keeping anything from the public. The fact is, he is the only branch of government that has in fact issued an issuance, an Executive Order # 1 on transparency, and that is FOI in the executive branch of government.”

In December last year, the Palace advised the public to request a copy of Duterte’s SALN from the Office of the Ombudsman, the repository of the original SALNs of the President, the Vice President and members of constitutional bodies.

The Palace said it could not dictate to the Ombudsman “the course of action it wishes to undertake relative to such a request given that the latter is a separate and independent institution that we have no control of.”

Ombudsman Samuel Martires has issued a memorandum circular stating that public officials' SALN may not be accessed without their consent.

Duterte’s net worth stood at P28.540 million in 2017, up P1.1 million from P27.428 million in 2016 when he assumed the presidency. — BM, GMA News