Last week, The House of Representatives adopted a Resolution that would make it extremely difficult to get a copy of the members’ Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.
House Resolution No. 2467, authored by 10 members of the House led by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo set requirements that makes the use of SALN as an anti-corruption almost impossible.
The motive of the of the authors is obvious: they don’t want the public to know increase in their wealth while in public office.
Kaya lang, kung pipirma siya ng waiver para sa kanyang bank deposits, kailangan din gawin ng lahat na miyembro ng kanyang cabinet.
Ang hiningi nga ni Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano , lahat: COA, Comelec, BIR, Customs, judges, governors, mayors, barangay captains, congressmen, senators.
Diyan magkaka-problema. Ay kung may miyembro siya ng cabinet na may hindi mapaliwanag na kayamanan? Di magkaproblema pa siya.
Kaya sinabi niya na hindi ngayon ang tamang panahon para ipatupad niya ang kanyang pangako noong kampanya na mapirma siya ng waiver o pahintulot para makita ng iba ang laman ng kanyang mga bank accounts.
Kailangan mabigyan niya ang kanyang mga opsiyal ng tamang panahon para ayusin ang kanilang kayamanan.
Pero despalinghado ang pagpaliwanag ni Presidential deputy spokesman Abigail Valte.
This line of reasoning first surfaced in the March 14 hearing when Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano followed up on the point raised by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV that the issue is not whether the income of the chief justice was huge, or his wealth was earned legitimately or not, but whether what was stated in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth are true and accurate.
Cuevas replied, “Even assuming there is discrepancy or quite a difference in the making of the return which may be considered inaccurate, Your Honor, that is not a ground, in our thinking, for impeachment.”
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I beg to disagree with Ombudsman Merceditas Guttierrez that the “independence and objectivity” of the Ombudsman would be “endangered, diminished or destroyed” if they would not impose more restrictions on the public to secure the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth of government officials and employees.
In fact, by making it difficult for taxpayers to get those documents that are important in anti-corruption investigation, the Ombudsman is showing her bias for crooks in the government.
Enshrined in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights is the provision that “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by the law.”