Ombudsman bets weigh in on lifestyle checks for kin, SALNs

Applicants vying for the position of Ombudsman on Friday gave their opinions on the conduct of lifestyle checks for families of public officials, as some face criticism on social media over their purchases.

During the second round of public interviews by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), former Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares stressed that a lifestyle check is a “basic tool” to prevent corruption and will automatically include families of officials if the wealth is passed down.

“Kunyari nag donate siya [sa anak] o kaya walang income itong anak at sasabihin nung anak na bigay sa akin nung magulang ko, edi automatic sa kanya, mag lifestyle check,” Jacinto-Henares said.

(For example, if he donated [to the child] or if the child has no income and says that it was given to me by my parent, then automatically for him, there should be a lifestyle check.)

She also said authorities may examine if children of officials who earn their own income and live lavishly are paying their taxes.

Jacinto-Henares said in an interview, “Nagbayad ka ba ng income tax return mo? Nag bayad ka ba ng buwis? So ito ‘yung lahat ng ari-arian mo, so nagbayad ka lang ng P100,000, eh di kulang. Eh di tax evasion ‘yan.”

(Did you pay your income tax return? Did you pay taxes? So these are all your properties, and you only paid P100,000, then that’s lacking. That’s tax evasion.)

“It depends on how you will account, di ba? Kasi kung aakuin nung anak, e 'di siya ‘yung may tax evasion. Kung aakuin nung magulang, ‘di ‘yung magulang ‘yung — aside from tax evasion meron pa siyang illegally obtained wealth,” she added.

(It depends on how you will account, right? Because if the child will take accountability for it, then he has tax evasion. If the parent will do it, then the parent — aside from tax evasion, he also has illegally obtained wealth.)

The former BIR commissioner recalled the case of Jeane Napoles, daughter of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, who was slapped with tax evasion charges by the BIR 2013 for failure to pay taxes despite her ownership of multi-million-peso properties in the United States and the Philippines.

According to the BIR, Jeane was able to acquire real estate and register them in her name in 2011 and 2012, but had no declared income during those years.

The Court of Tax Appeals later dismissed the tax evasion case due to "insufficiency of evidence."

Under Section 15(11) of the Republic Act 6770, the Ombudsman has the power and duty to investigate and initiate the proper action for the recovery of ill-gotten and/or unexplained wealth amassed after February 25, 1986 and the prosecution of the parties involved.

The law further stated that the “Ombudsman shall give priority to complaints filed against high ranking government officials and/or those occupying supervisory positions, complaints involving grave offenses as well as complaints involving large sums of money and/or properties.”

Meanwhile, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg said that lifestyle checks should include the family.

“But to substantiate what you see in social media is what is different. Because what you see in social media need to be backed by evidence, need to be backed by proof. And that is where the investigation lies,” she said.

Econg, however, said that the Ombudsman’s power to conduct lifestyle checks is not clearly delineated by law.

“I am pro-lifestyle check but then the law has to be clear that it is given and granted to the Office of the Ombudsman,” she said.

For his part, Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Beda Epres said the conduct of lifestyle checks for families will depend on the evidence gathered by authorities.

“If trinansfer sa mga anak, sa kapamilya, sa asawa ‘yung illegally acquired wealth, then masasama sila. Kasi ang titingnan natin dito is ‘yung kanila bang kayamanan is commensurate doon sa sweldo na tinatanggap nila,” he said.

(If the illegally acquired wealth was transferred to the children, family members, or spouse, then they will be included. Because what we will look at here is whether their wealth is commensurate with the salary they are receiving.)

“Or kung meron man silang mga negosyo, kaya ba itong ma-acquire through — basta ang importante diyan, was it acquired through lawful means,” he added.

(Or if they do have businesses, could they have acquired it through — what’s important there is, was it acquired through lawful means.)

He also believes that the RA 6770 is already sufficient for the office to conduct lifestyle checks.

Applicants discuss SALN

Jacinto-Henares said the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of public officials is a public document and must be made available.

However, she stressed that more details regarding the source of the money must be provided.

“Delikado rin ‘yung nagbibigay ka lang ng gross amount, kasi ‘yung gross amount hindi nae-explain kung saan galing ‘yun. Whereas kung binigyan mo ng kaunting detalye. Nakalagay diyan, saan mo nakuha, binili mo, may nagbigay sayo, may inheritance ka. So makikita na agad ng tao,” she said.

“Hindi kaagad sa impression ng tao ay nangurap ‘yan… in that sense, it should have enough detail to explain where you got it from and at the same time, just right that you won’t be harassed,” she added.

She also said that certain personal information must be redacted.

Then Ombudsman Samuel Martires, in September 2020, issued a memorandum restricting the public’s access to SALN mainly by requiring a requester to get the consent of the declarant or the public official who executed the SALN before a request could be granted by the office.

Meanwhile, Econg said that she will look into the restriction on the SALN, believing that it is too restrictive to only grant access when an official agrees to it.

“You know, Justice Martires is my colleague for a long time and it’s not that I’m criticizing him. He is right in setting certain limits but I think… the limits should also be reasonable to gain access to the SALN,” she said.

Econg said the media should be given access to the SALN.

Amid concerns that the document will be weaponized, Econg proposed that individuals who request SALNs may write a letter that can be a sworn statement so they can be held accountable.

For his part, Epres said he will also review the memorandum issued by Martires.

Meanwhile, Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan declined to be interviewed by the media.

During his interview with the JBC, he assured that his loyalty is to the people. He also said that he will beef up the investigatory unit of the Office of the Ombudsman should he be appointed. — BAP, GMA Integrated News