EVEN BEFORE HE was appointed as Ombudsman, then Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla managed to make an impression on the members of the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) administering the selection process.
JBC recommends appointees to the Judiciary and from among the nominees, the President appoints judges and justices without need for confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.
What exactly compelled the JBC to include Boying’s name in the Final Seven from where the President made a pick?
When asked as to what he intends to do should he be appointed as ombudsman, Boying hinted at allowing access to government officials’ statements of assets and liabilities (SALN).
CIRCLE OF TRUST
Moving forward, Boying, who falls well within the President’s trusted circle, was named as the new ombudsman.
During his first day in office, Boying hinted at issuing a memorandum soon to reverse the access restriction on SALNs imposed during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
However, there’s a twist in his new position for which I seriously doubt his conviction.
“Baka ma-weaponize,” was Remulla’s reply to a media query during a press briefing, in reference to his presumption on the possibility of public officials being harassed.
If I remember it right, his predecessor retired Ombudsman Samuel Martires used the same alibi. Hence, Martires issued a policy which effectively restricted SALN for public scrutiny.
PUBLIC SCRUTINY
A lawyer that he is, Boying knew for himself that a provision under Republic Act 6783 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) mandates each and every person in the government to make their SALN available for public scrutiny.
To be perfectly candid, wala naman dapat ikatakot kung wala silang itinatago. And besides, people in the government are called public officials because their salaries are drawn from public funds from taxes being paid by the general public.
SALNs contain the summary of government officials’ and employees’ assets and properties. This mechanism is essential to monitor public servants’ wealth.
Previously, the public had access to officials’ SALNs, but the policy stopped when Martires came in. Martires went as far as restricting media access to SALNs for “news and communications media for dissemination to the general public.”