Newly minted Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s first directive yesterday was to ease public access to Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of public officials. He vowed that those that were withheld in the previous administration, including that of former president Rodrigo Duterte, will be released.

The pronouncement came on Remulla’s first day in office as the country’s top graft buster, scrapping an old policy enforced by his predecessor, the retired Samuel Martires.

Remulla said his office is expected to receive requests for SALNs early next week once the guidelines for the memorandum are crafted. Its approval and publication will follow subsequently.

“The earliest is next week,” he said in a briefing. “But of course, we need the requesting parties to ask for information, but not a blanket request because they can be weaponized. What we need is for us to have an undertaking to ensure public interest.”

Remulla pointed out that this is part of intensified efforts to promote transparency and to purge the government of crooks amid rampant corruption, as made evident by the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.

SALNs from 2016 included

Remulla said the policy will also apply to SALNs withheld from 2016, as well as of those implicated in the alleged kickback schemes, including members of Congress and DPWH officials.

Duterte’s SALN was not made available for public scrutiny up to the end of his term in June 2022.

“We talk about transparency, let’s go all the way. All, including us, are subject to it too,” he said, referring to incumbent officials such as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, among others.

Access to government officials’ SALNs has been restricted since 2020, following the issuance of Memo Circular 1, signed by Martires, notwithstanding Section 8(d) of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713).

The provision allows access to government officials’ SALNs as long as it is to “news and communications media for dissemination to the general public.”

Martires’s memorandum, however, required that a SALN would be released only if the official who submitted it provides a notarized letter authorizing its disclosure.

In enforcing the memorandum in September 2020, Martires explained that critics were weaponizing the SALNs to discredit public officials, leading to unfair and wrongful accusations.

Remulla, however, plans to rescind his predecessor’s order and vowed to enforce broad reforms, including bringing the institution closer to the public.

The new Ombudsman highlighted the importance of ordinary citizens’ complaints in assisting the anti-graft body in conducting lifestyle checks, instead of only relying on its fact-finding team.

We want to open this office to the public because this is their grievance platform. We will ask the public to contribute to us,” he said.

Following his appointment by former president Duterte in 2018, Martires also discontinued lifestyle checks on government officials, arguing that RA 6713 which mandated such checks was illogical.

Matires’s policies had drawn public backlash over the years, with critics saying they created a loophole that allowed corrupt officials to operate unchecked. He retired in late July after concluding a seven-year term. He was succeeded by Remulla, who relinquished his post as secretary of Justice.