Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno on Friday, Sept. 10, rebuked Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires for hindering transparency in government and stifling the people’s right to comment on matters of public concern.

In his social media post, Diokno said the right to comment includes that pertaining to the statements of assets, liabilities and networth (SALNs) of government officials and employees, the filing of which is required by law.

Diokno reacted to Martires’ proposal to penalize people who comment on SALNs and to subject them to at least a five-year prison term.

“I disagree with Ombudsman Martires. Trabaho ng Ombudsman i-promote ang transparency, hindi ang hadlangan pa ito (It is the job of the Ombudsman to promote transparency, and not hinder it). The Constitution also guarantees our right to comment on matters of public concern—at kasama doon ang (and that includes) SALNs,” said Diokno, who is the chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) Facebook post.

At the same time, Diokno expressed deep concern over the unreleased copy of the SALN of President Duterte. Copy of the President’s SALN requested by a lawyer was denied by Martires.

“Nakakalimutan yata nila na ang required sa batas, hindi lang pag-file kundi pagsiguro ng public access sa SALNs (Maybe the Ombudsman had forgotten that filing is not the only thing required by the law, but it also requires public access to SALNs),” he noted.

Quoting a Supreme Court (SC) ruling, Diokno said: “While custodians of SALNs like Ombudsman Martires can regulate how SALNs can be inspected or copied, ‘such discretion does not carry with it the authority to prohibit access, inspection, examination, or copying’ .”

“Imbis na ipagkaila ni Omb. Martires ang hinihiling na SALN ni Pangulong Duterte, dapat ibinigay ito. Ang batas ang boss ng Ombudsman, hindi ang Pangulo (Instead of refusing, Martires should should release the SALN of President Duterte. The law is the boss of the Ombudsman, not the President),” he stressed.

In Memorandum No. 1 issued by Martires on Sept. 1, 2020, a copy of a public official’s SALN may be released if “he/she is the declarant or the duly authorized representative of the declarant; the request is upon lawful order of the court in relation to a pending case; and the request is made by this Office’s Field Investigation Office/Bureau/Unit (FIO/FIB/FIU) for the purpose of conducting fact-finding investigation.”

The memorandum also states that “in all other instances, no SALN will be furnished to the requester unless he/she presents a notarized letter of authority from the declarant allowing the release of the requested SALN.”