WANNABE-PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday Jan. 24, said statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth could be weaponized for political attacks and therefore rejected their being made public.
“Depends what the purposes are for making them public; if the purpose is going to be a political attack, then why would we want to do that?” he said said, citing as example the 2012 impeachment of then Chief Justice Renato Corona for failing to file his SALN.
“If you look at it even more closely, it was a political decision. It was not an effective decision or objective judgment of what he had done. So, if that is going to be the purpose for it, some political agenda, then I don’t see the reason that the SALN should be given,” Marcos Jr. noted, adding: “Maybe my experience with the Corona impeachment has a lot to do with it. It really does. Because they made something out of nothing.”
Furthered he: “Kasi kung lahat lahat ng politiko may kalaban, eh makakahanap yan, makakagawa ng issue. And my prime example is Corona. Walang issue eh. Gumawa sila, tinanggal siya, manipulated the analysis of his SALN to make it look like he was hiding something.”
At the time a sitting senator, Marcos Jr. voted NO to the impeachment of Corona.
Tuesday: Marcos Jr. willing to show SALN…
PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday, Jan. 25, he is willing to show his SALN if elected president.
“Ako? Oo,” Marcos Jr. said when he was asked in a presidential interview with radio station DZRH.
He said he would ensure that his SALN would be open to the public, as well as the SALNs of his appointive officials in government, but with the proviso that this should be voluntary for other government officials that are not under the executive branch.
“Kapag nahalal ka, I think it should be voluntary. Iyong tao, kung gusto nila ipakita, ipakita nila. Kung ayaw nila ipakita, they will have to suffer the consequences for that, the political consequences for that,” Marcos Jr. explained.
“Kung appointive position na nasa gobyerno, ikaw ang naglagay eh kapag hinahanap sa kanila, bakit ninyo itinatago? Delikado iyan. Pero iyong other elected officials, hindi mo pwede pagsabihan mga senador na sa ‘ayaw mo o sa gusto mo ipakita mo SALN mo,’ hindi mo pwede sabihin sa Supreme Court Justice na ipakita mo SALN mo, hindi po pwede utusan iyon ng ganoon. I can only speak for myself and if elected, then those I have brought into the government,” he added. With media reports
