Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is ready to talk to his cabinet on Saturday the potential of publicizing each of their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Price (SALNs), Malacañang said on Friday.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire A. Castro confirmed this amid the recent voluntary disclosures of SALNs by various lawmakers, including Risa Hontiveros, Robin Padilla, Tito Sotto of the Senate, and Kiko Barzaga of the lower house.
When she was asked if the President would do the identical, “Tignan po natin kung ano po ang nararapat [Let’s see what’s is appropriate],” Ms. Castro said in response throughout the palace briefing.
The President earlier said that he would make his own SALN available to any requesting body, reminiscent of the Office of the Ombudsman and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which is investigating irregularities in flood control projects.
“We are going to follow the old rules,” Mr. Marcos told a palace briefing last October 15, only a day after the newly installed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin C. Remulla lifted restrictions on public access to SALNs.
“These old rules were suspended within the last administration, where it was much, much easier to get a duplicate of the SALN and to look at it.”
Ms. Castro said she didn’t yet have additional details on what else the cupboard will discuss regarding the SALN, on condition that the President had already said his SALN is open to the general public.
She added that she would likely provide updates on Monday about the main points of the meeting in regards to the President and Cabinet’s SALN disclosure. — Edg Adrian A. Eva