Malacañang insists that President Rodrigo Duterte has nothing to hide in his Statement of Asset, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), according to Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo.
Panelo told in a media briefing in Malacañang that the President submitted his SALN to the Office of the Ombudsman, as stated in the law.
“If the President is hiding anything, he should not have filed it,” Panelo told Malacañang reporters.
“The law requires the filing of SALN, and the repository of records is the Ombudsman. So it’s in the Ombudsman, ”the presidential spokesman added.
According to him, the Ombudsman should issue a copy of the President’s SALN, but there are still guidelines in place, so everyone needed to wait for it.
Panelo added that the Palace would not contest in the event the Ombudsman releases a copy of the President’s SALN.
2018 SALN of President Duterte yet to be disclosed
SALN stands for Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. It is a declaration of assets (i.e., land, vehicles, etc.) and liabilities (i.e., loans, debts, etc.), including business and financial interests, of an official/employee, of his or her spouse, and his or her unmarried children under 18 years old still living in their parents’ households.
The submission of a SALN is required by law under Article XI Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution and Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6713, the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.”
It includes a waiver authorizing the Ombudsman or his authorized representatives to attain documents that may show assets, liabilities, net worth, business interests, and financial connections from all appropriate government agencies.
However, the SALN of President Duterte for 2018 remained undisclosed to the public by the government until today.
“This would be the first time in the last 30 years that a President has not released his or her SALN. Since the SALN Law was enacted on Feb 20, 1989, all five presidents before Duterte had publicly disclosed their annual SALNs without fail, year on year, via either the Office of the Ombudsman or the Office of the President,” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report said.