Manila, Philippines – It has been only three days since former Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla was appointed as the new Ombudsman of the Philippines.
While he is expected to lead anti-corruption drive, on hirs first day, Remulla announced plans to revise existing access restrictions on Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) of public officials.
In a press briefing on Friday, Remulla confirmed that he will be releasing a Memorandum, by October 15, to make governmnet officials’ SALNs accessible to the public.
Remulla also expressed commitment into ensuring that the Office of the Ombudsman will be open to public concerns, starting with reviewing SALN policies.
“I will ask them to make available the information. But of course we need requesting parties to ask for the information,”
“Tsaka baka ma-weaponize. May undertaking tayo pag kumukuha tayo… I want to open this to the public. I want to open this office to the public, kasi dapat ito sumbungan ng bayan eh.” Remulla said.
Under Republic Act (RA) No. 6713 or Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, public officials are mandated to submit their SALNs—the summary of their assets and properties used to monitor the wealth of the officials.
The same law recognizes public and media access on SALNs.
On 2020, however, Ombudsman Samuel Martires limited, through a memorandum circular, the public access to these documents, also stopping the lifestyle checks initiated by the Office.
Martires was appointed as the Ombudsman on 2018 under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, ending his term last July 2025.
Succeeding his post, Remulla vows to reimpose lifestyle checks on public officials, assuring that he is included as well.
“One of the campaigns we will launch will be crowdsourcing of information for lifestyle checks…. We will ask the public to contribute to us [by helping in doing] lifestyle checks. We will open a line for that,” he said.