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October 26, 2025 | 5:09pm
Rep. Leila de Lima during a forum in October 2024.
Rep. Leila de Lima via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal) urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Cabinet officials of the executive branch to disclose their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) to demonstrate a genuine commitment to transparency.
De Lima said this in a statement on Sunday, October 26, in response to Malacañang’s “reservation” on the disclosure of the SALNs of Cabinet officials.
“All-out means no cover-ups, no sacred cows, and no stone left unturned. And the administration should not exempt itself from scrutiny,” De Lima said in a statement.
“...The President should demonstrate his sincerity and commitment to transparency and accountability by disclosing his SALN and encouraging his Cabinet to do the same,” she added.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said that requesting parties must have a legitimate reason before they can obtain a redacted copy of the SALNs of Cabinet officials.
According to Bersamin, the current rules regarding the disclosure of SALNs are intentionally restrictive because the document “contains many details that might compromise the security [and] safety of the public officials concerned.”
“You must not ever forget that Cabinet secretaries are the alter egos of the President. They are entitled to a level of security and privacy,” Bersamin said, according to media reports.
On October 15, newly appointed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla lifted the restriction on public access to SALNs.
Although some restrictions still exist, such as personal information being redacted, this partially eased the stringent policy set by his predecessor, former Ombudsman Samuel Martires, by issuing a memorandum that lifts restrictions on SALN access.
On the same day that Remulla lifted restrictions on SALN access, Marcos, for his part, said that his SALN is available upon request to anyone who asks for it, specifically naming the Ombudsman and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure as entities that can access the document.
