By Ben Rosario

The House of Representatives Friday slammed critics of the newly-adopted House Resolution No. 2467, saying that public access to the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Networth of lawmakers and employees has been made easier.

Majority Leader and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro issued a clarification into the provisions of HR 2467 which has been assailed by opposition congressmen and other critics for allegedly blocking public access to SALN documents submitted by House members.

Castro said the accusations aired by Reps. Edcel Lagman (LP, Albay) and Tom Villarin (Akbayan Partylist) are baseless. He advised critics to study HR 2467 before airing their objections.

Contrary to accusations aired by opposition lawmakers, HR 2467 assured media that release of copies of SALN summary will be earlier compared to previous years. He said the legislative measure contains a provision for a self-imposed deadline in the distribution of the summary.

“Within 20 days after the last day of filing of SALN, the media will have to be given copies of the summary,” Castro said.

He added, “HR 2467 remains faithful to the principle of transparency. Accountability will have to be guaranteed by both the public and the SALN filers.”

Lagman chided the House leadership for imposing “for the first time stringent and repressive requirements for the public to access lawmakers’ SALNs”.

“What is so sacrosanct about the contents of the Representative’s SALN that the access to it by the public and media is made inordinately restrictive and tedious as contained in the proposed House Resolution NO. 1410 on the Rules referring to among others, access to SALNs of Members of the House?” Lagman asked.

ON the other hand, Villarin accused the House of having “thrown away the tenets of public accountability and transparency. HR 2467 goes against the meaning of public office as a public trust.”

“It practically renders the requirement of SALNs by legislators ineffectual if these cannot be divulged. It provides double standards in exacting accountability,” he said.

Castro stressed that under HR 2467, the rights of parties requesting for SALN copies and those of congressmen and House personnel will be protected.

“The days of tedious and expensive way of seeking copies of SALN of lawmakers are over. Requesting parties no longer have to ask the courts to issue a subpoena duces tecum, they merely have to ask and follow simple procedure provided under HR 2467,” explained the House official.

On the other hand, House members may decide to approve or reject the request for the release of his/her SALN.

Once a request is turned down by the concerned House member or official, the Review and Compliance Committee will subject the application to vetting and make its recommendation to the plenary.

Under Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employes, the Senate and the Lower House are mandated to form an RCC to ensure compliance to procedures relating to the filing of SALN.

The law also provides the imposition of fees to applicants requesting for SALN copies.

According to Castro, the committee or the plenary has the authority to overrule the decision of a non-cooperative solon but not those who are willing to share their SALN.

Castro said a number of congressmen and even Lower House personnel have complained of becoming the subject of fishing expedition for harassment cases, blackmail and character assassination.

“While it is true that we have the obligation to file SALN and observe transparency, we also have to impose responsibility to all so that the rights, welfare and safety of everybody concerned is protected,” he said.

Castro added: “The process we will follow is similar to what the Supreme Court observes with regards of SALN.”

He also stressed that concerned agencies have been consulted prior to the adoption of HR 2467. The Civil Service Commission, the government agency under whose purview the SALN compliance falls, was among those who agencies consulted by the House. The Committee on Justice has strongly endorsed the measure.

Castro belied claims by the opposition that adoption of HR 2467 was railroaded. He pointed out that proper legislative processes, including committee deliberation, were observed.