SALNs are public documents that should be open for comments —Hontiveros

The Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) of government officials are public documents that should be open for public comments, Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Friday.

The lawmaker made the statement a day after Ombudsman Samuel Martires proposed penalties against individuals making comments about public officials’ SALNs.

“Ang SALN ay kilala naman natin bilang public document, dapat ay madaling mahingi ng sinumang mamamayan ang SALN ng kahit sino sa aming nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno. And since these are public documents, matters of public knowledge eh di bukas din sa pagkomento nino mang mamamayan kahit kaming nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno,” Hontiveros explained in a CNN Philippines interview.

(We all know that SALNs are public documents that are supposed to be accessible to anyone who requests it. And since these are public documents, these are matters of public knowledge and it should be open for comments by any citizen, even us who are working in the government.)

She highlighted the importance of SALNs in investigating cases of graft and corruption.

As an example, Hontiveros mentioned Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon’s request for resigned Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao to submit his SALNs to the Senate blue ribbon committee as the panel continues to investigate the issues hounding the government’s procurement of overpriced pandemic-related medical supplies.

“Ganon kahalaga ang SALN naming mga nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno. At natural sa ganitong klaseng imbestigasyon e mapupuna ito for better or for worse. Ang hirap naman na magkaroon ng chilling effect sa pagpuna in a negative fashion, if it is warranted, sa ganitong mga dokumentong sinusumite naman namin taon-taon,” she said.

(That’s how important these SALNs are in these investigations. It is just natural for us to comment on this for better or for worse during this kind of investigation. It would be difficult for us if there would be a chilling effect in commenting on these documents in a negative fashion especially if it is warranted.)

“So I really hope and pray that the Ombudsman would change his opinion on this [and] ‘yung magiging actions ng kanilang opisina on this matter of SALNs,” she added.

(So I really hope and pray that the Ombudsman would change his opinion on this as well as the actions of his office on this matter of SALNs.)—AOL, GMA News