Lawmakers balk to release SALN, so Belmonte forms panel

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Amid the continued reluctance of many lawmakers to release their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN),  Speaker  Feliciano Belmonte said Monday he was forming a group composed of leaders of the  different political parties in order  to get a consensus on the issue.

Until a consensus is formed, Belmonte said he was leaving it to the individual lawmakers to decide whether or not they want to disclose their detailed SALNs in the spirit of transparency.

“For us to come to an agreement that all of us (would) be bound by the same rule… I’m actually in the process of picking a group of people, leaders from all parties… to come to a consensus on (the SALN issue),” Belmonte told reporters.

The challenge to lawmakers to disclose their SALNs came up following the ouster  last week of Chief Justice Renato Corona for failing to declare all his bank accounts and properties in his SALN.  Corona had initially signed a waiver allowing the disclosure of his bank accounts if a senator-judge and the 188 congressmen who impeached him signed the same document. He subsequently signed an unconditional waiver.

But so far, very few lawmakers have released their SALNs, among them, Bayan Muna party-list RepresentativeNeri Colmenares, Akbayan party-list Representatives Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao, Quezon RepresentativeLorenzo Tanada III, Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael Mariano and Palawan RepresentativeAntonio Alvarez.

Asked what could be stopping some lawmakers from disclosing their assets, Belmonte said that they all had political opponents.

“Remember, we are all politicians here. We have built-in opponents in our own districts and so forth,” he said.