PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte won’t release a copy of his net worth statement to the public, the presidential palace said on Monday, raising questions about his administration’s policy on honesty and openness.

The Office of the Ombudsman would have to decide whether to publish the president’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 2018, his spokesman Salvador S. Panelo told reporters.

“As far as the president is concerned, there is no issue,” Mr. Panelo said, noting that Mr. Duterte had filed the statement before the April 30 deadline. “You want to get a copy of it, then ask the Ombudsman.”

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) earlier called Mr. Duterte “a most secretive president,” noting that eight months after the deadline, he had yet to release a copy of his net worth statement.

“Duterte, a most secretive President when it comes to the details of his wealth, does not always do what he says,” PCIJ said in a report. “Indeed, by all indications, Duterte sticks out as the lie of his own Freedom of Information edict.”

This would be the first time in the past 30 years that a president failed to release his SALN, PCIJ said. Since the SALN Law was enacted on Feb. 20, 1989, all five presidents before Mr. Duterte had publicly disclosed their annual SALNs without fail, year on year, via either the Office of the Ombudsman or the Office of the President, it added.

Mr. Panelo said Malacañang would not succumb to public pressure by forcing Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires to divulge his so-called SALN.

“We do not interfere with any constitutional body. Let them do their work,” Mr. Panelo said. He added that the president had nothing to hide.

Mr. Panelo noted that while past presidents and other government officials had made their SALN public, the law does not require this. “That’s their style. This president’s style is different but he has not transgressed any law.”

In 2016, Mr. Duterte issued Executive Order 2, which operationalized freedom of information in the Executive branch.

“All public officials are reminded of their obligation to file and make available for scrutiny their SALN in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations, and the spirit and letter of this order,” according to the order.

PCIJ said it had filed multiple requests for a copy of the president’s net worth statement and was denied because the Ombudsman had yet to finalize its new rules on the release of SALNs. — Gillian M. Cortez

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