MANILA — Two senators on Tuesday expressed support for the resolution of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV calling for an inquiry on the release of redacted Statement of Assets, Liability, and Net Worth (SALN) of some Cabinet members.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said that the decision of the Palace to allow redacted portions of Cabinet members’ SALNs should prompt the Congress to review the SALN law.
“Tingnan natin yung SALN law at kung tama yung ginawa nila. (Let’s review the SALN law and find out if what they did was right),” Drilon told reporters in an interview.
Drilon said that a review of the current SALN law would help strengthen its “transparency aspect.”
Senator Grace Poe, for her part, said that it was “wrong “ for Cabinet members to redact portions of their SALNs stressing that although there was a right to privacy, there were exceptions to being public officials.
“Ang right to privacy karapatan ng lahat pero pag ikaw ay nasa gobyerno yung mga ibang karapatan na yan ay kailangan mong isuko (We all have a right to privacy but if you are in government, some rights must be given up),” Poe said.
Poe said that sensitive information such as addresses or details about Cabinet members’ children could be redacted but information about their companies and other affiliations should be very clear.
She said the very purpose of the Freedom of Information Executive Order was to provide transparency and accountability.
“Kung ginagawa nila yan papaano nila masasabi na meron talagang Freedom of Information sa Executive (If they did that, how can they say that there is a Freedom of Information in the Executive?)” she added.
Poe, meanwhile, is hoping the Senate could eventually pass its own FOI measure after priority bills are passed.
Bad example
Trillanes said that it was an “imperative necessity” to investigate the issue to determine whether or not certain public officials violated the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Government Employees and/or the Philippine Constitution.
He also pointed out that members of the legislative do not redact portions of their SALNs.
“Kami dito sa Senado wala kang redaction bakit sila doon sa Executive meron? Titingnan natin. Definitely, somebody violated the law at itong Freedom of Information Executive Order ay viniolate nila mismo (In the Senate, we do not have redaction, how come they in the Executive allow this? We have to see. Definitely, somebody violated the law and the Freedom of Information Executive Order),” Trillanes said.
He said redacting portions on the SALN was not a good example for government employees because it showed that there was an existence of “special treatment.”
“Hindi magandang ehemplo yan sa iba’t ibang empleyado ng gobyerno na may mga special treatment or special breed of government officials (This is not a good example for other employees in the government, that there is special treatment or a special breed of government officials),” Trillanes said.
“Kailangan sila yung nagpapakita ng ehemplo dito. Kailangan very transparent sila sa ganyang mga bagay (They should be the one showing a good example. They should be very transparent),” he added.
Malacanang defended its decision to redact portions of Cabinet members’ SALN saying it was in line with the Data Privacy Act.
On July 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte signed an Executive Order implementing the Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch to operationalize people’s right to information. (PNA)
