Casiño presses Aquino to sign waiver

Rep. Teodoro Casiño. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Former chief justice Renato Corona is not the only person to be shamed for resorting to “palusot” (lame excuses) to keep a tight lid on his bank accounts.

On Friday, Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño borrowed Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Farinas’ famous label on Corona to take a dig at President Benigno Aquino III for refusing to sign an unconditional waiver on his bank accounts.

In a statement, Casiño said waivers serve as “the litmus test for public officials to show that they are transparent and have nothing to hide.”

“The question now: Is he hiding something?” asked the lawmaker, referring to the President.

Today, Casiño said, the act of simply releasing to the public one’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth is not enough.

“People now don’t take a public official’s SALN at face value. They want to know if the government official really declared his or her true SALN,” Casiño said.

Casiño said that the waiver would help the Ombudsman look into public official’s finances and determine whether one’s SALN was truthfully declared.

“President Aquino should look beyond Corona’s stunt because that is over,” Casiño said. “The President’s apprehension that it (waiver) may be used against him or his bets for the coming election is misplaced. That’s ‘palusot.’”

“He may simply address the waiver to the Ombudsman so that not just anyone can access or invent anything in his accounts,” the lawmaker added.

He said that Aquino “should not be left behind” as more lawmakers signed waivers on their bank accounts to uphold transparency in the government.