Ombudsman told: SALN, lifestyle check ban opens door to corruption

The Ombudsman is strongly urged to scrap its policy of restricting lifestyle checks on government officials suspected of corruption and public access to Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) in light of the ongoing investigation into the anomalous flood control projects. The policy has been in effect since the Duterte administration.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio made the call on Wednesday during the plenary deliberations on the Ombudsman’s proposed P6.67 billion budget for 2026, asserting that the lack of lifestyle checks has created a loophole that allows erring officials to commit corrupt practices unchecked.

Tinio asserted that former Ombudsman Samuel Martires is also equally culpable for the large-scale corruption involving the flood control fiasco, citing “controversial“ policies that seemed to shield public officials from scrutiny, specifically stopping lifestyle checks and blocking public access to SALN, which were carried out under his watch. 

“Ombudsman Martires is responsible for the policy of restricti[ng] the public access to SALN. Martires signed Memo Circular No. 1 in 2020, which effectively made it very difficult for the public to get copies of official SALN,” Tinio said. 

“The Constitution and the SALN Law state that SALNs of any public official can be reviewed during office hours. But because of your policy, you have practically made it impossible for the ordinary citizen to access SALNs,” the Makabayan solon added. 

The memorandum in question provides that no SALN will be made available to the public unless there is a notarized letter of authorization from the declarant permitting its disclosure. In enforcing the memorandum in September 2020, Martires explained that critics are weaponizing SALNs to discredit a public official, leading to unfair and wrongful accusations. 

Martires also discontinued the practice of lifestyle checks on government officials since his appointment by former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2018, noting that the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713), which mandates such policy, is illogical. 

Quezon Rep. Keith Micah Tan, the Ombudsman’s budget sponsor, told Tinio that the memorandum is still in effect despite Martires’ retirement in late July, noting the anti-graft body will defer to the incoming ombudsman on whether to retain or scrap the policy. 

As for lifestyle checks, Tan said the Ombudsman did not totally abolish them, but they were only “done discreetly.” In 2024, the constitutional body conducted 82 lifestyle checks against public officials, while only 40 had been conducted as of July this year. 

Tan mentioned that officials and employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways who are involved in the corruption scheme in flood control, notably dismissed Bulacan District Engineering Office engineer Henry Alcantara, are also being subject to lifestyle checks recently due to the ongoing investigation by the Ombudsman.

Tinio, however, insisted that the acting ombudsman shall already come up with a decision concerning the publicization of government officials’ SALN, emphasizing that it’s crucial while the investigation into the flood control fiasco is ongoing, as it helps concerned authorities to track unexplained wealth.

RA 6713 provides public access to the SALN of all public officials, including the President and Vice President. The SALN is submitted annually to the Ombudsman on or before 30 April.

The law also prohibits public officials from receiving gifts, engaging in transactions that create conflicts of interest, and restricts them from living lavishly but modestly. 

Martires earlier told the Daily Tribune that only a complaint filed with the Ombudsman can trigger a review of the lifestyles of public officials unless Marcos explicitly identifies the legislators and DPWH officials involved in the flood control scheme.

“He just has to name names, and probably the Ombudsman can conduct a motu proprio into ill-gotten wealth. Correspondingly, it will conduct a lifestyle check," Martires stressed.

Refuting Tinio’s imputations of the Ombudsman's alleged lack of urgency and effort to purge corrupt officials, Tan said the body formed nine special panels, three each in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, to investigate the fraudulent flood control scheme. 16 DPWH officials have already been suspended.

According to Tan, the Ombudsman also launched a fact-finding probe into reports that Olympus Mining and Builders Group Philippines, a construction firm allegedly tied to Commission on Audit Commissioner Mario Lipana’s wife, Marilou, bagged P200 million worth of flood control projects from the DPWH.

Marilou is reportedly the president and general manager of Olympus Mining and Builders Group Philippines Corporation, based on the government’s data.