Filing a statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) before the Office of the Ombudsman is a yearly ritual that every civil servant in the country knows only too well. The document is required under Republic Act 6713, otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials and Employees.
The reason aligns with the need for transparency. All civil servants must show proof that they have not enriched themselves while occupying government positions. Year after year, the SALN traces how much one’s net worth has moved either upwards or downwards while being in public office.
Before Rodrigo Duterte became President, the SALN was pretty much the fodder of reports published by media and anti-graft watchdogs. The Office of the Ombudsman regularly disclosed the SALNs for public scrutiny or furnished them directly to requesting parties without the need of consent from the declarant.
But all of that changed when, after becoming President, Duterte appointed Samuel Martires as Ombudsman in 2020. Martires issued Memorandum Circular 1 that barred the public and the media from having access to the SALNs without a declarant’s consent through a notarized letter of authority.
As a result, President Duterte’s SALN was completely shielded from public and media scrutiny, effectively making him the first Philippine President in more than 30 years to keep his SALN secret.
The non-disclosure of Duterte’s SALN contrasted with his public position on the issue of transparency when he ran for President in 2016. Back then, he and his vice presidential bet, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, urged their fellow candidates for the two highest elective positions to sign bank secrecy waivers that will open their bank accounts for public scrutiny.
This Duterte transparency issue has resurrected in light of the Senate hearings on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, the former President’s daughter. The VP is being accused of amassing unexplained wealth and failing to declare these assets in her SALN, among other things.
Acting as an impeachment court, the Senate has granted a request by prosecutors to subpoena VP Duterte’s peso-denominated bank accounts, tax documents as well as her own as well as her husbands’ records with the Anti-Money Laundering Council, their joint accounts and 19 corporate entities linked to them.
A surprising turn of events this time is a position coming from Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano who cited concerns that the subpoena may just be an invasive fishing expedition. Although his turnaround may not be totally unexpected given his close association with the Dutertes, Cayetano’s current stand against opening the VP’s financial records begs the question: is this the same senator who once urged his fellow candidates to open their bank accounts to the public?
It would seem that Cayetano who was once so adamant at upholding transparency has now turned against himself by objecting to the opening of the VP’s financial books, calling it speculative and intrusive. But why oppose something that aligns with what you loudly advocated for in the first place?
At the end of the day, Cayetano’s situation teaches us a thing or two about consistency and convenience. Public officials really need to hold onto their self-proclaimed standards and follow through, even when it becomes uncomfortable for them. They should remember to uphold their basic advocacies constantly and not abandon them at the first sign of inconvenience.
