Ombudsman reminds gov’t officials, employees of SALN deadline

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Thursday reminded all government officials and employees to file their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) on or before the April 30 deadline.

“This act is both a constitutional and statutory obligation of every public servant such that failure to do so warrants the imposition of a concomitant administrative penalty,” Morales said in a press statement.

Morales warned that failure to file the SALN or any dishonesty in the legal document can warrant a one to six-month suspension for the first offense, dismissal from the service for the second, and can also lead to the forfeiture of unexplained wealth.

The SALN contains the assets (lands, houses, cash, etc.), liabilities (personal or institutional loans), and business and financial interests of a government official or employee, his spouse, and unmarried children under 18 years old living in their household.

The SALN, which is filed under oath, also includes a waiver allowing the Ombudsman or representatives to secure documents from all government agencies for investigatory purposes.

The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees states that all SALNs must be submitted within 30 days after assumption of office, on or before April 30 if every year thereafter, and within 30 days after separation from government service.

The SALNs of President Rodrigo Duterte, Vice President Leni Robredo, chairpersons and commissioners of constitutional commissioners and offices, Morales and her deputies, officials and employees of all government agencies including government-owned and-controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, and officials from state universities and colleges based in Metro Manila will be submitted to the Ombudsman’s central office in Quezon City.

Elected officials in the provinces including governors, vice governors, board members, mayors, vice mayors, councilors, barangay officials; military officers below the rank of colonel; officials from the Philippine National Police below the rank of senior superintendent; Philippine Coast Guard personnel below the rank of commodore; officials and employees at regional government offices and state universities and colleges will file their SALNs at the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman in their respective area offices.

Under Ombudsman Circular No. 2 series of 2017, the Human Resource Management Office of each government agency is also required to submit both hard and electronic copies of the SALN to the concerned Ombudsman office on or before June 30 of every year pending the full implementation of the anti-graft body’s electronic SALN program which was launched in May 2016.

The issue on the non-filing of SALN has been a key issue in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno when she allegedly failed to submit her SALNs during her stint as a professor at the University of the Philippines.

The same ground was included in the quo warranto petition against Sereno at the Supreme Court. The petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida seeks to nullify her appointment as the chief magistrate.

The Ombudsman has also filed several SALN cases before the Sandiganbayan against government officials, including former PNP chief Alan Purisima, former Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan mayor Edward Hagedorn, and former Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan.

Repositories

The Secretaries of the Senate and the House of Representatives will serve as the official repositories of the SALNs of senators and congressmen.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Clerk of Court will be the custodian of the SALNs of justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals, while the Office of the Court Administrator will archive those of trial and special court judges.

The SALNs of department secretaries and undersecretaries, including foreign service officers, heads of GOCCs and its subsidiaries, state universities and colleges, and officers from the military, police, and Coast Guard will go to the Office of the President.

The SALNs of other government officials and employees, including those at the regional level, will go to the Civil Service Commission except casual workers and those serving in an honorary capacity. — Joseph Tristan Roxas/RSJ, GMA News