President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. affirmed that his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) is open to anyone who wishes to request it, in line with his administration’s efforts to restore transparency and accountability in government.
The President made the statement on Wednesday, October 15, following the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to lift restrictions on public access to SALNs.
According to Marcos, the government will once again follow the traditional process of disclosure—something that had been “suspended” under the previous administration.
“We will follow the old rules. These old rules were suspended in the last administration, where the SALN was — it was much easier to get a copy of the SALN and to examine it,” said PBBM.
“I was quite surprised to find out when I first came into office that that was no longer the case—that it was almost impossible, in fact, to get a copy of people’s SALN. We’re just going back to the old procedure, and we will follow that, whatever happens,” he added.
The President also clarified that his own SALN will be made accessible even to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which is tasked with investigating alleged irregularities in public works projects.
“My SALN will be available to whoever would like to [see it]. Kung hingiin sa akin ng ICI, siyempre ibibigay ko. Kung hingiin sa akin ng Ombudsman, ibibigay ko,” Marcos assured.
Earlier, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla explained the new approach to handling SALN requests, saying that the Office will balance public access with data privacy considerations.
“Ang gagawin natin d’yan sa SALN issue, hindi lang isa ‘yan, lahat ‘yan. Ire-reduct lang natin ‘yong dapat i-reduct, that’s a data privacy. Syempre hihingi tayo sa lahat ng requesting parties undertaking na hindi gagamitin ito sa paraan na hindi makakabuti sa bayan,” said Remulla.
“Kasi baka mamaya, maging political noise lang ‘yan at maging poison lang. Baka naman pag-isipan natin ulit ‘yan,” he added.
The Palace’s latest move comes amid renewed public calls for greater government accountability and transparency, particularly in the wake of ongoing corruption investigations.