ACT Teachers Partylist Rep Criticizes Palace over Gov’t Officials’ SALN Disclosure
PALACE – ACT Teachers Partylist Representative Antonio Tinio slammed Malacañang over the alleged many qualifications for the release of the government officials’ Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs).
Several senators recently issued copies of their SALNs that revealed their net worth. It came after Ombudsman Boying Remulla requested the lawmakers to voluntarily disclose their SALN to the public. The Ombudsman recently lifted the restrictions on the public access to documents stating the assets, liabilities, and net worth of the government officials.
The Ombudsman’s office is the repository of the SALNs of the president, the vice president, the local government officials, and the officials of the Constitutional commissions. Ombudsman Boying Remulla restored the public access to the SALN of the government officials through a memorandum that reversed the 2020 circular implemented under the term of former Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
In the memorandum issued by the Ombudsman, the principle embedded in the Constitution that “public office is a public trust” is stated. Sen. Robin Padilla who disclosed his P244 million net worth with zero liabilities is one of the senators who voluntarily disclosed their SALNs.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros also issued a copy of her SALN that showed that her net worth was at P18.9 million as of 2024. Senate Pres. Tito Sotto declared a net worth of P188 million with liabilities amounting to P276 million in bank and personal loans. Undeniably, amid the senators disclosing their SALNs voluntarily, there are countless Filipinos who await President Bongbong Marcos to issue a copy of his SALN to the public.
Recently, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio slammed the Palace over the alleged qualifications on the release of the SALNs of the government officials. He stressed that while Malacañang said that the SALN will be available, there are lots of qualifications to obtain a copy.
“Pagkatapos nung unang deklarasyon ng Malacañang na magiging available na raw sa public ang SALN, ngayong marami palang mga qualification may mga sabit pala ‘yan,” Tinio said based on a post of ABS-CBN News.
Furthermore, based on the post, the ACT Teachers Representative claimed that there were allegedly not much rules about the SALN disclosure before. According to him, the government officials are supposedly mandated for a full disclosure of their SALNs and the documents should be available in their offices and the Ombudsman’s office.
Amid the public clamor, Malacañang recently spoke on the SALN of Pres. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.