Will SALNs be released by next Ombudsman? Candidates share thoughts

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Thursday held the first public interviews for the position of Ombudsman, during which applicants weighed in on the issue of lifestyle checks and the restriction on the disclosure of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of public officials.

For Philippine Competition Commission chairperson and former Commission on Audit chairperson Michael Aguinaldo, there must be a basis for conducting lifestyle checks, such as the current issue on flood control projects.

“Maybe as part of the investigation, you would look at the lifestyles of these engineers. Because there’s some kind of basis that, uy, ang dami nitong ano, or likely the ghost projects,” Aguinaldo said in the public interview.

The government is investigating alleged ghost and substandard flood control projects following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s vow in his last State of the Nation Address to ensure that those involved in anomalous contracts would be held accountable. 

Marcos has ordered lifestyle checks on all officials amid the investigation.

Aguinaldo said issues on flood control should be immediately addressed. 

Interior Undersecretary Romeo Benitez said lifestyle checks were vital in determining whether officials are engaged in irregularities. 

However, he said that this was not enough and must translate to something tangible.

“Lifestyle checks are investigatory and part of a possible case build-up. I think everybody who is privy or connected, either by consanguinity or affinity to the public officials subject to the lifestyle check, should be included,” Benitez said.  

Lawyer Jonie Caroche-Vestido also said that lifestyle checks would be one of her priorities if she is appointed Ombudsman, as she believed that graft and corruption are “rampant” today.

"What we need is an Ombudsman who would proactively file cases and check the lifestyle of these public officials if there are unexplained wealth and ill-gotten wealth based on their transactions with the government, if any,” she said.

Fourth to be interviewed by the JBC was Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Bautista Corpin Jr., who said that lifestyle checks were a deterrent against corrupt officials. He said that lifestyle checks were “not illogical.” 

"Filipinos, sometimes they are so mayabang (boastful). Whenever they have money, they flaunt it. And it just shows that if you have some assets that are not expected of you to have because the means of acquiring it is kind of beyond your means," Corpin said.

"In that case, there is a reason for a possible inquiry by the Ombudsman,” he said in a post-interview.

Corpin, however, believes that lifestyle checks should be limited to the public official and their immediate family members as they are the “main beneficiaries of what [the officials] earn.”

Former CA Associate Justice Stephen Cruz highlighted the importance of transparency. 

“Lifestyle check is part of it. You must open your heart and your pockets in order to show that you’re transparent and that you’re really doing your job,” Cruz said.

“No hidden agendas, no secret dealings, no under the table,” he added.

SALN

When it comes to SALNs, Aguinaldo said there must be a balance between the rights of the public and government employees. 

“You want to review the rules on the disclosure of SALN. I think there’s a need to strike a balance somewhere between the right of the public to know… but also the, you can say, limited rights of government employees,” Aguinaldo said.

Aguinaldo said he had seen the SALN being “weaponized.”

Then Ombudsman Samuel Martires, in September 2020, issued a memorandum restricting the public’s access to SALN mainly by requiring a requester to get the consent of the declarant or the public official who executed the SALN before a request could be granted by the office.

In a post-interview, Benitez said the law must be revisited as it has been “susceptible to so many interpretations.”

“Unless we institutionalize the requirement or the condition that the SALN must be made public, then the myriads of interpretation can really lead or bring us to a convergence or variety in the treatment of this issue,” Benitez said.

For her part, Caroche-Vestido said that if she is appointed as Ombudsman, she will issue a memorandum reversing the restriction on the issuance of SALNs.

“Kapag nakaupo ako, in my first month of office, papayagan ko ‘yung pag issue ng SALN. Because that is my advocacy: Transparency, accountability, at justice,” Caroche-Vestido said in an interview with the media.

(If I am appointed, in my first month of office, I will allow the issuance of SALNs. Because that is my advocacy: Transparency, accountability, and justice.)

She added that to address privacy concerns, certain details, such as the address of public officials, will be redacted. 

Bautista, meanwhile, said that SALNs are public documents. When asked if this means he would reverse Martires’ memorandum, he said it is possible.

“It’s a possibility, yes,” he said. 

The JBC panel was composed of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as ex officio member, retired Justice Jose Mendoza as the representative of retired Supreme Court justices, Nesauro Firme as the representative of the academe, Erlinda Piñera Uy as the representative of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and Jose Mejia as the representative of the private sector.

The interviews will be held from August 28, Thursday, to September 2, Tuesday.

The appointed official will replace Martires, whose term expired on July 27.  The Ombudsman will serve a fixed term of seven years without reappointment.

The Office of the Ombudsman handles the complaints filed against high-ranking government officials and those occupying supervisory positions, complaints involving grave offenses, as well as complaints involving large sums of money and/or properties. –NB, GMA Integrated News