MANILA – The House of Representatives recently adopted a resolution making it hard to access the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) of lawmakers.
Under House Resolution 2467, plenary approval is now required before gaining access to a congressman’s SALN. A SALN Review and Compliance Committee will also establish an act on all SALN requests and determine their validity.
The resolution added that parties requesting for SALN must provide identification data and state their purpose for the request.
A copy of the request will be furnished to the concerned lawmaker.
Those who wish to ask for a copy of the congressman’s SALN must pay P300 to cover reproduction and certification costs, “exclusive of mailing costs and other related expenses.”
The committee may grant or deny requests to the filed SALNS, “provided that access to copies of the filed SALNs or House Members by the public shall be referred to the House plenary for approval.”
The SALN to be requested cannot be used in any purpose contrary to morals or public policy, any commercial purpose other than by news or communications media for dissemination to the general public, putting anyone’s life and safety in imminent danger, compromising decisions and activities of House members, officers, or employees, and interfering with law enforcement proceedings, and unjustifiably disclose investigative techniques and procedures.
“The House recognizes the circumstances in which the information in the SALNs of its members may be used to render them and members of their family vulnerable to threats to life and security, influence the action of the House or its committees and, consequently, undermine the independence of the legislative branch,” the resulotion said./PN
