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Malacañang skirted Saturday calls from religious leaders forPresident Benigno Aquino III to sign a waiver that would open hisbank accounts to scrutiny. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda even suggested the Churchtake up the matter with Congress to fine-tune the law and make theStatement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) stricter. "The problem with signing a bank waiver, assuming ako ay magnanakaw ..., hindi ko ide-deposit sa sarili kong account," he said on government-run dzRB radio. "What we need to do is a systematic review of accountabilitymechanism and the SALN is a good measure of exactingaccountability," he added. "It"s up to the legislature to do that. If they want tomake sure (there are) no loopholes, let the lawmakers look into theSALN Law and make it more effective," he added. In past days, religious leaders had joined calls for Aquino to signa waiver that would open his bank accounts to scrutiny, in the nameof transparency. Malacañang had initially thumbed down such calls, saying itwould be like lumping Aquino and impeached Chief Justice RenatoCorona. Corona has since been stripped of his post after the Senateimpeachment court convicted him, 20-3, for culpable violation ofthe Constitution and betrayal of public trust for not declaringsome properties and accounts in his SALN. On Friday, however, Aquino reiterated he will not sign a waiver toopen his bank accounts for public scrutiny. Earlier, El Shaddai leader Mariano "Mike" Velardejoined such calls, saying there is nothing to be afraid of if thereis nothing to hide. "And besides, the purpose of the statement of assets,liabilities and net worth really is for the public to know whatthey have," Velarde said, according to an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines newssite. CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peaceexecutive secretary Fr. Edu Gariguez said the waiver issue is morea matter of leadership by example. "His (Aquino"s) supposed good governance campaign orwhat his administration calls ‘daang matuwid" (straightpath) will only be ningas kugon (short-lived enthusiasm)," Gariguez said on Church-run RadioVeritas. Excerpts of the interview were posted on the CBCP news site Friday night. But Lacierda insisted the SALN has a "morecomprehensive" waiver that allows authorities to look notonly into cash deposits but also financial interests and assets notonly in terms of cash but also properties. He said those making the call should focus on the SALN law. "If there"s any concern, let them improve the SALN Lawif there"s a need for that.... If there are things that needto be plugged in the SALN Law let the legislature do that,"he said. Meanwhile, Lacierda said the Bureau of Internal Revenue will do itsjob by looking into Corona"s accounts, by virtue of a waiverCorona signed. "It was just proper for (BIR commissioner Kim Henares) torequest for the waiver. That"s part of her job," hesaid. — LBG, GMA News. I am an expert from peanutprocessingmachinery.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Innercity Bus , Peanut Processing Machinery, Peanut Butter Making Machine,and more.
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