Retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is baffled as to why the Office of the Ombudsman, led by Ombudsman Samuel Martires, doesn’t want to release President Duterte’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) when he can file a case against anyone for the wrongful use of this document.

The President has not released his SALN since 2017 despite the public’s clamor for it.

“Grounds for prohibited use of SALN is to be availed of by the public official whose SALN is being considered. In other words, kung ang presidente’s (if the president’s) SALN is being used for purposes that’s contrary to morals or public policy, the President himself can file a case against the person who sourced his SALN and used it for a purpose contrary to morals or public policy,” she said during the virtual Archer Talks and Eagles’ Meet Our Leaders forum on Saturday, September 11.

This was in response to Martires’ plan to propose an amendment on Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees before the House committee on appropriations.

The amendment will penalize people making commentaries on the SALNs of public officials. The penalty will be an imprisonment of five years.

READ: Ombudsman wants SALN of president, other officials published but there's a catch...

Martires said he is ready to be removed from office instead of yielding to the public’s request to make available the SALN of the President and other public officials.

This, he claimed, is against the spirit of Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of 2020 that he signed in September last year. The memorandum restricted public access to SALN except for official or duly authorized representative, for court order in relation to a pending case, and for the Office of the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office for the purpose of conducting fact-finding investigation.

Carpio-Morales said that Martires’ statement that he is ready to be removed from office to stand by his refusal to release a copy of the President’s SALN is an “admission against interest.”

“If he is ready to be removed because of his refusal to furnish a copy of the SALN of all officials then so be it,” she added.

The retired Ombudsman, who is a lead convenor of opposition coalition 1Sambayan, argued that under the law, “the public has the right to access the SALN of government officials and employees.”

“There is another provision of the law which says accessibility of documents shall be made available for copying and reproduction. In other words, the public has the right to avail of the SALN of any public official or employee except when the purpose for securing the SALN is for a purpose which is against morals and public policy or if it’s used for commercial use other than for publication,” she added.

The issue on the President’s SALN has been long-standing but with Vice President Leni Robredo challenging the release of this official document, Malacañang claimed that anyone can make a request with the Ombudsman.

READ: Duterte's SALN may be released by Ombudsman, says Roque

Requests for the President’s SALN, however, have been met with rebuke by Martires who denied lawyer Dino de Leon access to the document under the ambit of his Memorandum Circular No. 1.

The focus on Duterte’s SALN once more became a public issue because of the President’s links to allegations of corruption in the procurement of medical supplies during the pandemic last year.