Human Rights Online Philippines

Rodrigo R. Duterte is a most secretive President when it comes to the details of his wealth. To this day, eight months after the April 30 deadline for filing, he has not released a copy of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) for 2018. By all indications, Duterte sticks out as the lie of his own Freedom of Information (FOI) edict.

BY MALOU MANGAHAS
December 11, 2019

ACCORDING to President Rodrigo R. Duterte, a public official’s solemn oath would be to uphold three principles: “serve and protect the people, practice transparency and accountability, and shun corruption.”

This was his marching order to dozens of legislators and local officials who were elected in May 2019, at their oath-taking ceremony in Malacañang last June 30.

“As you assume office, it becomes your highest duty to practice and uphold accountability and transparency in government, and to ensure that graft and corruption will not have a place in this administration,” Duterte had said. “Let me just shorten our oath of office in two sentences — actually it’s just — we swear to preserve the Republic of the Philippines and to defend the people. That’s the long and short of it.”

But Duterte, a most secretive President when it comes to the details of his wealth, does not always do what he says.

Indeed, by all indications, Duterte sticks out as the lie of his own Freedom of Information (FOI) edict.

To this day, eight months after the April 30 deadline for the filing of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), Duterte has not released a copy of his SALN for 2018.

This would be the first time in the last 30 years that a President has not released his or her SALN. Since the SALN Law was enacted on Feb. 20, 1989, all five presidents before Duterte had publicly disclosed their annual SALNs without fail, year on year, via either the Office of the Ombudsman or the Office of the President.

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