Palace to cooperate in Senate probe on SALN redactions

Malacañang yesterday vowed to cooperate with the Senate in any probe on the redactions in the statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) of Cabinet officials as it stressed that no violations were committed in withholding some information on the documents.

“The executive department would cooperate and would attend the investigation on SALNs, if and once called by the Senate,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

“We reiterate that there were no violations committed related to the release of SALNs of some Cabinet members,” he added.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism recently reported that some key information in the Dec. 31, 2016 SALNs, including the acquisition costs of officials’ properties, were redacted.

According to the report, around 167 details were redacted in the 29 SALNs it examined.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a critic of President Duterte, has filed Senate Resolution No. 514 seeking an inquiry into the redactions.

Trillanes said the Civil Service Commission has adopted the position that the disclosure of SALNs must prevail over the Data Privacy Act.

Abella said the executive branch has consulted with the National Privacy Commission on the release of SALNs.

“Implementation of FOI (Freedom of Information) is a learning process, especially with the concurrent application of the Data Privacy Act. The executive has raised the SALN issue with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and we are waiting for their guidance,” Abella said, referring to the FOI executive order issued by Duterte last year.

The NPC said that the Data Privacy Act was not designed to block public access to the SALN of public servants or justify redactions.

Privacy commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro said that the Data Privacy Act is not designed to prevent access to personal information under any circumstances.

“It promotes responsible and lawful use of personal information,” Liboro said.

He cited Section 11 of the law which states: “The processing of personal information shall be allowed, subject to compliance with the requirements of this Act and other laws allowing disclosure of information to the public and adherence to the principles of transparency, legitimate purpose and proportionality.”

“The Data Privacy Act is not meant to serve as a subterfuge to prevent the processing and/ or disclosure of personal information sanctioned under law,” Liboro added.

Privacy deputy commissioner Ivy Patdu said the acquisition costs of government officials’ properties should not be redacted.

“They should be open to the public and they should be included in the SALN. And I think that if you request for those same documents with the Freedom of Information, they will be released without redactions of acquisition cost,” Patdu said in a press briefing.

Presidential Communications assistant secretary Kristian Ablan explained that some sensitive details like the home address and names of minor children are withheld to protect the privacy of officials.

Ablan said the Malacañang Records Office is the repository of Cabinet members’ SALNs.

“As I mentioned in previous occasions, the implementation of FOI in the US took five years. The implementation of FOI in Croatia took 10 years. And the President told us to implement FOI in a 120 days,” he added.

Rep. Gary Alejano of Magdalo party-list added his voice yesterday to growing criticism on the secrecy of many details in the SALN of Cabinet members.

He said the redactions or blacking out of the SALNs of Cabinet officials mocks President Duterte’s directive on freedom of information and the administration’s anticorruption campaign.

“It appears that the FOI executive order signed by the President and all his tough talk against corruption are just for show. Pakitang-tao lang,” he said.

“The SALN is an anti-corruption measure. It tracks any movement of your wealth while you are in government office. It applies to all people in government, from highranking officials down to the lowly employees,” he said.

He cited the applicable law: Republic Act 6713 or Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which he said takes primacy over the Data Privacy Act.

“If you are a public official or employee, you are not exempted. In fact, public officers should be examples of transparency,” he stressed.

Alejano is the complainant in the first impeachment case filed against Duterte. The House dismissed the complaint in May.

He had accused the President of having amassed more than P2 billion in illegal assets. Duterte denied the accusation.