REVISED GUIDELINES GOVERNING ACCESS TO SALNS FILED WITH THE OMBUDSMAN
copies of the statements of assets and liabilities of public officials
and employees filed before it, including those of its officials and
employees to persons requesting for the same, the reason for the request
must be legitimate. The reasons accepted by this Office as legitimate
are a) when the requested SALN is needed in school for study purposes,
b) when the same is to be disseminated to the general public by news and
communication media, or c) upon a court subpoena duly signed by a
Presiding Judge in a pending criminal case or in the case of another
quasi-judicial agency, upon request personally signed by its authorized
officer/representative.
WHEREAS, this Office is cognizant of the fact that in other times,
the request is made under circumstances which may endanger, diminish or
destroy the independence and objectivity of the Office of the Ombudsman
and its officials in the performance of their quasi-judicial functions
or expose them to revenge for adverse decisions, thus the following
revised guidelines are hereby adopted:
1. All SALNs filed with the Office of the Ombudsman, including its
area and sectoral offices, shall be accessible and made available to the
public for inspection/reproduction during reasonable hours of working
days and within the view of the custodian officer.2. The SALNs shall be made available for copying or reproduction
after ten (10) working days from the time they are filed as required by
law. However, the statement shall be available to the public for a
period of ten (10) years after receipt of the statement. The statement
may be destroyed after such period unless needed in an ongoing
investigation.3. The requester shall be required to accomplish the attached form[*] which shall be subscribed and sworn to before any prosecutor in the Office of the Ombudsman.
4. All requests for copies of SALNs shall be filed with the Public
Assistance Bureau (PAB) of the central and area/sectoral offices of the
Office of the Ombudsman. The first duty of the processor shall be to
determine if the requested SALN is in the custody of the Office of the
Ombudsman pursuant to Section 1 (c), Rule VII, Republic Act No. 6713 and
CSC Memorandum Circular No. 20, s. 1994. If it is not in the custody of
the Office of the Ombudsman, it is the processor’s duty to promptly
inform the requester that it is in the custody of another office/agency.5. All requests for copies of SALNs filed with the Office shall be
made in the attached form, clearly and legibly indicating therein the
requester’s full name, signature, business or residential address,
telephone number or other circumstances which will show that the
requesting party is not fictitious, and that the purpose for the request
is legitimate.i. The requester shall present the original of at least two
government issued ID bearing the requester’s picture and signature for
the processor’s photocopying. The following shall be among the accepted
IDs:a. GSIS/SSS ID
b. TIN/Pag-IBIG/PhilHealth ID
c. Passport
d. Driver’s license
e. PRC ID
f. IBP ID
g. (If requester is a student) Student IDii. Where the purpose stated is contrary to morals or public
policy, or is commercial in nature other than by news and communications
media for dissemination to the general public, the request shall be
denied outright.iii. Where the purpose of the inspection/reproduction is for
study, the name of the owner of the SALN shall not be disclosed by the
requester. In all cases the private address of the owner of the SALN
shall be blackened.iv. Where the purpose of the inspection/reproduction is not for
study purposes or dissemination to the general public by news or
communication media, or where the requesting party appears to be
fictitious, the PAB shall refer the party’s request to the Office of
Legal Affairs (OLA) for final approval/denial. In granting/disapproving
the request OLA shall consider the following:a. The independence of the Office of the Ombudsman is
constitutionally important as the right to information which is subject
to limitations provided by law. Under specific circumstances, the need
for the fair and just investigation, prosecution and/or adjudication of
litigations may require the Office to be wary of deceptive requests for
information which shall otherwise be freely available. Where the request
is directly or indirectly traced to a litigant, lawyer, or interested
party in a case pending before the Office, or where the Office is
reasonably certain that a disputed matter will come before it under
circumstances from which it may, also reasonably be assumed that the
request is not made in good faith and for a legitimate purpose, but to
fish for information and, with implicit threat of its disclosure, to
influence an investigation/prosecution or a decision or to warn the
Office or its officials of the unpleasant consequences of an adverse
finding or judgment, or where a decision has just been rendered by the
Office against the person making the request and the request for
information appears to be a “fishing expedition” intended to harass or
get back at the concerned officials of the Office, the request shall be
denied.b. Where there are reasons to believe that the request for
SALNs will be utilized for extortion purposes or will pose danger to the
personal safety of the official or employee concerned and/or that of
his family, the request shall not only be denied but shall be
immediately reported to the proper law enforcement agency.v. The reason for the denial of the request for SALN examination, inspection or reproduction shall be specified in all cases.
6. The request for SALN shall be acted upon within the period
provided for under the Citizen’s Charter of the Office. The name and
signature of the processor shall be clearly indicated in the request
form.7. In case the requester has reason to believe that an official or
employee’s assets and properties are unreasonably disproportionate to
his/her income, instead of requesting for the official or employee’s
SALN, the requester may report the matter in writing to the Office of
the Ombudsman including the reason for his/her belief. The matter will
be acted upon by the Field Investigation Office (FIO) which shall
request for the official or employee’s SALN.8. To protect the right to privacy of the concerned public official
or employee whose SALN is being sought, the requesting party’s written
request accomplished in the prescribed form shall be treated as part of
the public record, which shall be readily made available to the public
official or employee who may avail himself of all legal remedies against
the requesting party should said official or employee feel that the
requesting party has unlawfully encroached on the former’s right to
privacy and violated his/her undertaking. The request form shall be
kept by the custodian officer of the SALN.9. Once the request for a SALN has been approved, the processor shall ensure the following:
i. That the requesting party pays the cost of reproduction of the requested SALN;
ii. That the requesting party certifies under oath that he/she will abide by the undertaking stated in the prescribed form;
iii. That the prescribed form is duly subscribed by an authorized administering officer; and
iv. That the private address of the owner of the SALN is blackened in the copy to ensure that his/her privacy is maintained.
All previous issuances inconsistent herewith are hereby revoked and/or modified accordingly.
This Memorandum Circular shall take effect after fifteen (15) days
following the completion of its publication in a newspaper of general
circulation and upon filing with the University of the Philippines Law
Center of three (3) certified copies thereof.
Adopted: 16 June 2009
(SGD.) MA. MERCEDITAS NAVARRO-GUTTIERREZ
Tanodbayan
[*] Text Available at Office of the National Administrative Register, U. P. Law Complex, Diliman, Quezon City.