Senate employees reminded to submit SALNs today

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate secretariat reminded at least 1,000 employees to ensure that all their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) are submitted by end of office hours today.

The secretariat, where all SALNs of senators and their employees are submitted, issued the reminder through its public address system yesterday afternoon.

At the same time, re-electionist Sen. Loren Legarda also urged fellow candidates to submit for public scrutiny their real net worth, including funds spent for the campaign.

Legarda said she filed her SALN on April 11, ahead of today’s deadline for submission of the sworn statements.

“In the interest of transparency, it is incumbent upon all state workers, especially those seeking reelection to public office, to submit their true net worth and declare their real assets instead of hiding them,” she stressed.

She also urged fellow political candidates to be transparent as to how much they are really spending for the campaign.

“Judging from the volume of television and radio advertisements hitting the airwaves, some candidates must be spending a fortune just to be known and get elected,” Legarda noted.

She said Filipinos deserve to be apprised of every centavo the candidates spend for the campaign “because they have to justify how they’re going to recover such huge amounts.”

Seeking a fresh term under the Team PNoy coalition, Legarda said she prepared her own SALN with the help of her friends at the Sycip, Gorres and Velayo accounting firm. She said her SALN reflects her true net worth.

“As public officials, it behooves upon us to set the example. We must file a truthful SALN as early as possible,” she said.