Morales: Martires' memo restricting SALN access goes against Ombudsman's mandate

Ombudsman Samuel Martires’ memo restricting public access to public officials’ Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) goes against the mandate of his office, if not a case of misreading the law, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said Thursday.

Morales was referring to Martires’ September 1 memo restricting the public’s access to SALN mainly by requiring the requester to secure the consent of the declarant or the public official who owns the SALN, among other conditions, before the SALN request can be granted by his office.

“It (memo) goes against the Constitutional principle that the public office is a public trust. There is this law which mandates filing of SALNs, and also mandates that the public shall be entitled to even photocopy or reproduce SALNs of public officials and employees for as long they don’t cross prohibited acts which means against morals and public policy,” Morales said in an ANC interview.

Morales was referring to Republic Act 6713 Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, which mandates disclosure of SALNs to the public at a certain period of time and as long as the one making the request shoulders the cost of reproduction and mailing of the SALN copies. The same law prohibits access to SALN for any purpose contrary to morals or public policy.

Asked if Martires’ memo goes against the Ombudsman’s mandate, Morales answered in the affirmative.

“He has his own motivations in issuing that Memorandum, but anyone can misread or misinterpret the law, so probably he misread the law. I am sorry to say that, Ombudsman Martires,” Morales said.

“The memo does not carry out the spirit of the law which means public office is a public trust. You are supposed to be transparent,” she added.

Morales said that the conditions set by Martires in granting SALN access are not even provided for under Republic Act 6713.

Some of these conditions include:

• the individual requesting is the declarant or the duly authorized representative of the declarant
• the request is upon lawful order of the court in relation to a pending case; and
• the request is made by the Ombudsman office's Field Investigation Office/Bureau/Unit (FIO/FIB/FIU) for the purpose of conducting fact-finding investigation

Martires justified his move as a way to protect the public officials from being wrongfully accused since the SALN is being weaponized by political rivals. He also said SALNs have no use in the prosecution of corrupt officials.

Morales, however, argued that it is not Martires’ job to ensure that SALNs are not being weaponized because such observation is not gospel truth.

“If a request for SALN is being weaponized by enemies of the politician, then that is the concern of the politician. No one can refuse a request of anyone to use a SALN to use or copy a SALN for as long as it does not go against morals and public policy,” Morales said.

“If it turns out the SALN was furnished to the requester and the person who requested it uses it against morals and public policy, the person whose SALN was requested has a remedy, he can file a case against the requester,” she added.

Morales said the requester, if faulted, can be fined for not less than P25,000.

“Bottomline, it is the concern of the politician to fault the requester if the SALN is being used against morals and public policy,” she said. —KBK, GMA News