Rowegie Abanto

The Senate of the Philippines opens its first regular session of the 20th Congress on July 28, 2025.  Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit

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SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES- 20th CONGRESS

RG Cruz

Kaxandra Salonga

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176051444569020250728-senate-20th-congress-VD1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The Senate of the Philippines opens its first regular session of the 20th Congress on July 28, 2025. Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit"/><span class="fr-inner">The Senate of the Philippines opens its first regular session of the 20th Congress on July 28, 2025. Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit</span></span></span>MANILA — Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday he would consult his colleagues on relaxing the rules for public access to senators&#x27; Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth following a change of rules at the Office of the Ombudsman.</div><p>&quot;I will consult my colleagues through caucus or chat group,&quot; Sotto said in a text message, adding he is ready to release his SALN anytime.</p><p>The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/14/ombudsman-restores-public-access-to-salns-of-government-officials-1739">officially relaxed guidelines</a> on the release of SALNs of public officials, reversing a Duterte-era policy that required the consent of the SALN filer.</p><p>Under the new guidelines, the public may now request the SALNs of those within the Ombudsman&#x27;s repository, including the president, vice president, local government officials, and officers of Constitutional Commissions.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/13/all-officials-under-executive-branch-ready-to-bare-salns-malaca-ang-1813"><strong>All officials under executive branch ‘ready’ to bare SALNs: Malacañang</strong></a></div><p>Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, who was until recently Department of Justice spokesperson, noted that the judiciary and the legislative maintain their own SALN repositories and urged these institutions to align their policies with the Ombudsman&#x27;s new memorandum.</p><p>Sotto said that the Senate, under his leadership, had previously allowed &quot;access to the SALNs of the senators subject to their individual approval, and so this is not new to us.&quot; </p><p>&quot;The only variation is we redact the addresses of their properties,&quot; he said.</p><p>Senate Secretary Renato Bantug said that the SALNs of senators are submitted to the Secretary of the Senate, who is also the repository of the SALNs. </p><p>&quot;Requests for SALNs may be filed with the Office of the Senate Secretary,&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/11/sara-duterte-open-to-ombudsman-remulla-looking-into-her-saln-1959">&#x27;Ilagay na niya sa harap niya&#x27;: Sara Duterte open to Ombudsman Remulla looking into her SALN</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;WALA NAMANG TUMUTUTOL&#x27;</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian believes his colleagues will back the move.</p><p>&quot;Nakikita ko wala namang tumututol sa ganyan na concept. Everyone is ready to show their SALN... I&#x27;m very open. I&#x27;m very open to this,&quot; he said.</p><p>(From what I see, nobody is opposing the concept)</p><p>Gatchalian said those who have nothing to hide should have no problem with releasing their SALNs.</p><p>Sen. Francis Pangilinan is also supportive of the move, noting that the law mandates the disclosure of SALNs for transparency and accountability.</p><p>Under the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees, government officials are required to submit their SALNs. However, the release and publication of SALNs could prove difficult.</p><p>&quot;Ito lang nakaraang ilang taon, eh, naghigpit sila. Hindi naman &#x27;yun ang sinasabi ng batas at hindi yun ang intention,&quot; he said.</p><p>(Just in the past few years, they restricted access. That&#x27;s not what the law says or intended)</p><p>A <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/09/10/21/palace-respects-ombudsman-jail-bid-for-saln-critics">2020 circular under former Ombudsman Samuel Martires</a> required prior written and notarized consent from officials before their SALNs could be released to a requesting party.</p><p>Clavano said there is no longer a need for consent on the part of the public officer whose SALN is requested. </p><p>&quot;The only thing that the requesting party needs to show is ID, and to make sure that he is not a fictitious person, that he is indeed the person that he purports to be, given the IDs,&quot; said Clavano.</p><p>Scrutiny of SALNs may lead to the discovery of ill-gotten or unexplained wealth.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/29/marcos-ready-for-lifestyle-check-including-saln-disclosure-1222"><strong>Marcos ready for lifestyle check, including SALN disclosure</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>MOVE TO BRING BACK PUBLIC CONFIDENCE</strong></div><p>Gatchalian noted that SALNs are self-declared and require &quot;honesty&quot;.</p><p>He said failing to disclose one&#x27;s assets could cause problems in the future.</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Pag &#x27;yan lumabas later on, pwede kang makasuhan. And that&#x27;s a ground for banning from holding public office,&quot; he said.</p><p>(If that comes out later on, a case might bve filed against you)</p><p>Gatchalian also said the disclosure of SALNs is one of the ways to bring back the public&#x27;s confidence in government in light of recent corruption controversies.</p><p>&quot;If you remember kay the case of Alice Guo, marami siyang hindi dineclare na lupa sa Alabang. So that&#x27;s one way of detecting na meron kang tinatago na mga assets,&quot; he also said.</p><p>(If you remember the Alice Guo case, she had properties in Alabang she did not declare. So that&#x27;s one way of detecting if an official is hiding something)</p><p>Pangilinan, too, is ready to publicize his wealth declaration, adding he used to release it whenever someone made a request.</p><p>&quot;For some reason, nagbago &#x27;yung patakaran (the policy changed). But I think we should go back to that,&quot; he said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>LOOK INTO MARTIRES&#x27; SALN?</strong></div><p>Pangilinan even urged Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla to look at the SALN of his predecessor, Martires, who sealed the SALNs under strict access rules.</p><p>&quot;Doon sila mag-umpisa kasi, eh, siyempre tinago, di ba? Bakit kaya? Baka sakaling malaman natin ano &#x27;yung dahilan bakit hinigpit. Di ba?&quot; Pangilinan said.</p><p>(They should start there. He hid it, so you have to ask why. We might find out why he decided to restrict access)</p><p>Gatchalian said the Ombudsman&#x27;s new rules on access to SALNs are a welcome development, stressing that this is especially helpful amid investigations into the flood control corruption scandal.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rnjq-7m-2LU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Office of the Ombudsman's fresh rules on SALNs, which relaxed access to the document, do not cover senators as they maintain their own repositories. Will they follow the move?</p>

The Office of the Ombudsman's fresh rules on SALNs, which relaxed access to the document, do not cover senators as they maintain their own repositories. Will they follow the move?

Are senators open to disclosing their SALNs?

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Are senators open to disclosing their SALNs?

RG Cruz,

Kaxandra Salonga,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 15, 2025 04:14 PM PHT

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SALN

Ombudsman

Statement of Assets

Liabilities and Net Worth

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