Leaders with nothing to hide

Would the Ombudsman, members of the Lower House and the judiciary, and other government officials join the rush to release or file statements of assets, liabilities and net worth if Chief Justice Renato Corona had not been impeached for allegedly failing to do the same?

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales last week released her SALN at the request of at least two media organizations that followed guidelines for obtaining the statement issued by her office.

In a statement, the office pointed out that Morales filed her SALN on July 29, 2011, or “within 30 days after assumption of office” as required by law.

Morales’ office, however, has chosen to hide behind a resolution issued by her predecessor Merceditas Gutierrez that requires those who ask for copies of the Ombudsman’s SALN to do so under oath.

At the Lower House, two of 282 congressmen authorized the release of copies of their SALNs to the public. They are Akbayan Rep. Kaka Bag-ao and Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño. Will their 280 colleagues follow suit?

The people are now awake to the reality that for so many years, government leaders have been the number one violators of laws on transparency.

Legislators would be imprudent if the implications of this awakening on the need to pass the Freedom of Information Act continue to be lost on them.

Already, the public frowns upon a Supreme Court that winks at stipulations on disclosure in R.A. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and R.A. 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The High Court does so under a prissy 1989 resolution that placed the justices’ SALNs beyond scrutiny lest, among other scenarios, their assets be imperiled by parties who want to dictate how they should decide cases.

Why this lack of courage among our supposedly greatest judges and our congressmen? The members of the Senate, who have crafted many a legislation that seem to belittle the interest of the powerful for the sake of the common good, released their SALNs regularly.

We can only imagine what legalistic mumbo jumbo those who sit in office may conjure to exempt themselves from the provisions of a Freedom of Information Act if one is enacted.

But such a law is an idea whose time has come, and the people will not tone down their clamor for its passage, nor their demand to be apprised of what goes on in the corridors of power.

That is part of the essence of democracy: a polity where officials serve with integrity and have no hanky panky to hide.