SALN, other FOI releases on hold as Malacañang process under ‘review’

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang is holding the release of documents requested through the Freedom of Information (FOI) system, including Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), due to a review of the process, the Palace records office told Rappler.

“In order to ensure the consistency with the forthcoming updated guidelines, the ODESLA [Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Legal Affairs] has advised that the release of FOl-requested documents — including the SALNs — be withheld pending the completion of the said review,” the Malacañang Records Office told Rappler in a letter on Tuesday, January 6.

It was a response to this reporter’s request for the SALNs of several Cabinet-level officials. According to the records office, ODESLA is “in the process of updating and reviewing the current People’s FOl Manual (FOl Manual)” released in 2021, during the Rodrigo Duterte administration.

Malacañang is the custodian or repository agency of SALNs filed by Cabinet members, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, heads of government-owned or -controlled corporations, and other national executive officials. This is according to a 2015 memorandum circular of the Civil Service Commission. The CSC, under the government code of conduct, is originally where these officials should file their SALNs until the circular assigned by Malacañang.

This means that despite the administration’s promise of more transparency, the policy still set limits, particularly in the case of Malacañang itself. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s SALN has already been made public because the custodian is the Office of the Ombudsman, which reversed the Duterte-time policy of withholding SALNs’ release.

While Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s policy reversal was a welcome development, it only covered SALNs in his office’s custody.

The release of lawmakers’ SALNs remains voluntary as the custodians of the documents are their respective chambers. All senators have voluntarily released their SALNs and while some House lawmakers have opted to divulge their SALNs, those of pertinent lawmakers such as former speaker Martin Romualdez still remain a secret. The same goes for the judiciary, as the Supreme Court is the custodian of SALNs.

In 2023, Marcos signed Presidential Memorandum Circular No. 15 which lengthened the list of FOI exemptions. Rappler has repeatedly experienced being denied FOI requests by executive agencies which cited MC 15.

The most often cited exemptions are Section 9g which exempts “requested information [that] pertains to comments and disclosures on pending cases in judicial proceedings,” and Section 3 which exempts “information concerning law enforcement and protection of public and personal safety.”

Due to these exemptions, Rappler has been denied access to information, for example, on the drug war investigation, and the expenses of the government maintaining a seized Marcos ill-gotten asset. – Rappler.com