Malacañang is no longer redacting or obscuring the wealth information of Cabinet members in future public requests for their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN).
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella assured there will be full public disclosure on the assets of the Cabinet after the National Privacy Commission (NPC) clarified that data privacy law does not protect public servants from inquiries on matters of public concern.
“If you check again, they will give you the full,” Abella said during a Palace press briefing, when asked if there will be no more redactions of acquisition costs of properties and other wealth details in the Cabinet’s SALN.
The Palace earlier defended the redaction of some details of the Cabinet’s SALNs was in line with the country’s law on data privacy. It claimed that while the government holds transparency and accountability in government, public servants still have the right to privacy.
NPC Deputy Commissioner Ivy Patdu, however, explained that the wealth data of a public servant should not be redacted in the SALN.
