Value of SALN in campaign finance The shrinking trend in accessing SALN of public officials had proven to pose hindrances in reporting on the wealth of public officials. The latest of these restrictions is an Ombudsman Memorandum Circular that prevents access to SALNs under its safekeeping unless requested by the filer themselves, authorized by the filer, or if summoned by the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office, Bureau or Unit for purposes of a fact-finding investigation. BY KAROL ILAGAN AND FLOREEN SIMON May 9, 2021 | 07:00:00 AM
As many election and governance advocates would say, campaign finance is the first step by which the people can tell whether a candidate, once elected into office, would do well in a public post and in handling public funds. A cross-checking of campaign finance submissions with wealth declarations should be able to provide better contexts towards this end.