SATURDAY / SEPTEMBER 19, 2020 A8 OPINION.INQUIRER.NET [email protected] INQUIREROPINAME/AGE/CITY/MESSAGE TO4467 @INQ_OPINION WWW.INQUIRER.NET THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, INC. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER has its business and editorial offices at Chino Roces Ave corner Yague and Mascardo sts., Makati City P.O. Box 2353 Makati Central Post Office 1263 Makati City Our Telephone numbers are 8897-8808 (all departments) ◆ Editorial Fax 8897-4793 ◆ Advertising 8890-5535 ◆ Classified 8897-8425 ◆ Circulation 8805-9786 ◆ Subscription Hotline 8896-6000 OPINION EDITORIAL Why the attack on transparency? f utilized properly, the requirement for every government official or employee to fill out and submit a “Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth,” better known as a SALN, is a power- ful tool for government and the public to check abuse of one’s office or theft of public funds. Embedded in the 1987 Constitution, the re- quirement for a SALN covers all government employees who each must submit the notarized document upon assuming office and then every year thereafter. It has served as a useful tool for the ICommission on Audit, the Civil Service Commission, Fact: The gov’t has done a lousy job the Office of the Ombudsman, other politicians, and members of the public, including (and especially) the he Asian Development Bank (ADB) just If President Duterte wanted to emulate media to monitor the growth (or diminishment) of an came out with growth forecasts for the Ferdinand Marcos, his idol, he has certainly official’s personal wealth while in office. region as well as member countries. De- done it, in spades. Simple as it may sound, any increase in the net Tveloping Asia is to contract by 0.7 per- And now, in its latest forecast, the ADB worth of a government official during his or her term cent this year, and Developing Asia without expects the country to contract by 7.3 percent, of office is a potential red flag for investigators.- Un the newly industrialized economies will much deeper than the Southeast Asian average explained growth in assets and net worth from year contract by 0.5 percent. The Philippines will of 3.8 percent. If we actually contract as much to year could trigger probes into the source of such contract by 7.3 percent, and Thailand will as predicted, the question now is: How did the income, compared to one’s official salary and allow- contract by 8 percent. Philippines deteriorate from being the fourth ances, or assets gained before one joined government. What is the message that we get? That best performing country in 2019 to the second Their SALNs were used to oust the late former chief since every country, or almost everyone, will to the worst performing country in 2020? justice Renato Corona as well as his successor, Maria experience growth contraction, we’re not do- GET REAL Studies have shown that the major factor Lourdes Sereno. Impeachment proceedings against ing so bad after all, especially since Thailand SOLITA COLLAS-MONSOD that accounts for differences in growth per- former president Joseph Estrada hinged, in part, on is not doing as well. The worst is over. Our formance between countries is government discrepancies between his SALN and his lifestyle and government has done about as good a job as policies and institutions (accounting for 70- personal wealth. And to this day, calculations and any other. Duterte pa rin. 79 percent of differentials—initial condi- comparisons between the official salaries of the late Wrong, Reader. This government has not tions, natural resources and geography, and dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda and done as good a job as any other, and I am out- demography account for the rest). their enormous wealth are used by historians, critics, raged that as a result, we have allowed so many Conclusion: We should never have con- and even the Supreme Court to demonstrate the enor- of our middle and lower economic class Filipi- tracted as badly as we did. Who is respon- mity of the plunder that supported their conjugal rule. nos to suffer. We all should be told the truth, and WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE sible for this? Without a doubt, the Duterte Thanks but no thanks, however, to Ombudsman President Duterte should apologize to the peo- administration. Samuel Martires, himself a former associate justice of ple for the ineptitude of his government. In fact, CONTRACTED AS BADLY But we don’t have to even look at the data the Supreme Court, the efficacy of the SALN as a check whether he is sick or not, I think he should step to conclude that the government is respon- on official abuse is about to end. down, and allow Vice President Leni Robredo to AS WE DID. WHO IS sible. All we have to do is look at who was Just this week, the Office of the Ombudsman made take over. Then we will have a better chance of crowing over the Philippines’ growth perfor- public new guidelines on access to and use of the SALNs getting over the health and economic crisis that RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS? mance in the past four years. Was it not the of public officials. Under the new rules, access to SALNs this administration has exacerbated. administration? Therefore, they should take may only be availed by the following personalities: the of- Why do I think the government has done responsibility for this year’s execrable per- ficial involved or a duly authorized representative, bear- a lousy job? Let’s look at the ADB data. Only WITHOUT A DOUBT, formance, too. ers of court orders in relation to pending cases, and the consider, Reader. As of the end of 2019 (pre- And Reader, you can see why President Office of the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office for COVID-19), the Philippines’ growth perfor- THE DUTERTE ADMINISTRATION Duterte and his administration stumbled so the purpose of conducting a fact-finding investigation. mance of 6 percent made it rank No. 4 out badly: Instead of concentrating on the prob- Of note is the absence of the media, as representa- of the 11 countries (Cambodia 7.1 percent, cent (higher than the regional average), while lem at hand, there were too many distrac- tive of the general public, from the list of those enti- Vietnam 7 percent, Myanmar 6.8 percent) in the forecast for Thailand was -4.8 percent. tions—it had to destroy ABS-CBN, it had to tled to request for copies of SALNs. The Ombudsman’s Southeast Asia. Compare that to Thailand’s But that was before the Philippines’ actual pass an anti-terrorism bill, it had to try to order effectively shuts the door to public scrutiny of 2.4 percent, second to the bottom (Singapore growth (more specifically, a contraction) for establish a revolutionary government, it had the finances of public officials. Such a terrible irony was the bottom at 0.7 percent). Obviously, the the first six months was published. And the to protect the Chinese government, it had to given that the Office of the Ombudsman was created Philippines was far above the average growth country showed a huge contraction in this conceal the problems regarding the Presi- precisely to ferret out secret or unexplained wealth for the region, which was 4.4 percent. year’s second quarter of 16.5 percent (first dent’s health from the people. among government officials in preparation for sub- Then, COVID-19 struck. And in ADB’s April quarter, -0.7 percent). Reader, the Philippines And who suffers for this? Let me remind mission of cases before the Sandiganbayan. 2020 outlook, the Southeast Asian region’s has been keeping track of its GDP since 1946. you, Reader. It is the middle class and the poor. The designation of a SALN as a public document growth performance was forecasted to slow Never before, not even in the country’s debt That’s at least 90 percent of our population. is precisely to make it available for public scrutiny. To down to 1 percent. The Philippines was ex- crisis under Ferdinand Marcos, has it per- ------------------ shroud it in unprecedented secrecy (courtesy of the pected to have a growth performance of 2 per- formed so poorly. [email protected] principal anti-corruption office no less) is to undermine its very purpose and thwart the Constitution’s mandate for a government of transparency and accountability. People are aware, too, of the generally obsequious A vision of peace, prosperity amid the pandemic attitude of the courts toward high-ranking officials, as well as the wariness of the Ombudsman’s field officers he establishment of full diplomatic re- strong and strategic areas of cooperation to be linked in any way to the leak of official documents. lations between Israel, the United Arab with the Philippines. We are positive that this What is the root of the Ombudsman’s recent or- Emirates, and Bahrain is a watershed COMMENTARY milestone will expand new developments der? It appears to have stemmed from the refusal of Tmoment for the Middle East. While RAFAEL HARPAZ between our countries in the areas of agri- President Duterte and officials around him to release this region of the world is often thought to culture, tourism after the pandemic, energy his SALNs for the past two years. Instead of remind- be somewhat of a dysfunctional family, the sector, trade and investments, and overseas ing Malacañang of the President’s SALN obligation, Abraham Accords Peace Agreement rep- we believe that this kind of agreement will ef- Filipino workers. the Ombudsman’s memorandum could only bolster resents a conscious decision to instead be a fectively serve to immunize countries against Combining forces and finding common the Palace’s defiance of not just the Constitution but normal one.