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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Lawmakers oppose new SALN format

By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated February 16, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (34) View comments
MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers strongly opposed yesterday the new format of the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for government employees, which they said was unconstitutional and could expose public officials to self-incrimination and harassment.

During a hearing at the House of Representatives, lawmakers took turns chastising Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairman Francisco Duque III, who is tasked to implement the new SALN format.

The truthful execution of SALN is one of the main issues in the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, who is accused of failing to publicly disclose his SALN.

Under the new SALN, public officials and employees are now also required to disclose sources and amount of their gross income, personal and family expenses, and amount of total income tax paid.

Duque told lawmakers that his agency was simply implementing the recommendation last year of an inter-agency body composed of the Office of the President, Department of Justice, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the CSC, among others.

He also said that the CSC was simply “harmonizing” the implementation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Surigao del Sur Rep. Philip Pichay, in separate manifestations, said that while the new provisions were mentioned in RA 3019, these are not specifically enumerated in RA 6713, a much more recent law.

Rodriguez stressed that RA 6713, which is a much higher law being a Code, has effectively repealed the provisions in the old law.

“We must register our objection to the proposed new SALN form, mainly because of potentially unconstitutional overreach,” House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said.

He said Article XI Section 17 of the Constitution states that every public officer is required to “submit under oath a declaration of his assets, liabilities, and net worth.”

“And yet the new SALN form seeks to go much farther, by also requiring disclosure of matters like one’s gross income, personal and family expenses, and income taxes paid,” he said.

He said the Supreme Court has ruled that “a governmental purpose may not be achieved by means which sweep unnecessarily broadly and thereby invade the area of protected freedoms.”

“The constitutional requirement of disclosure pertains only to the public officer involved and not to his spouse and other relatives,” he added.

“The additional information required is tantamount to a ‘fishing expedition’ that infringes on a person’s right against self-incrimination and exposes public officials to harassment and abuse,” Suarez said.

The lawmakers threatened to bring the matter to the courts if the CSC insists on implementing the new SALN format.

Pichay said the new SALN is also unconstitutional as it might breach bank secrecy laws.

He explained that government employees would need to declare other sources of income, such as “passive income” or income already subject to final tax such as interest income from bank interest and other sources, which is subject already to 20 percent tax and capital gains tax.

He said that the Bureau of Internal Revenue withdrew last year its new income tax return form that was viewed by House members as too intrusive and unconstitutional.

Pichay also warned that even ordinary government employees could be penalized for simple inaccuracies in filing their SALN as the new format is complicated and tedious to prepare.

“For example, all of us have a credit card. If at the end of the year you are not going to declare the balance of your credit card even if you owe the credit card P1,000, that is again undeclared (and) not complete disclosure, so again you could be suspended between one month to six months… that’s what we have now,” he said.

Suarez said the requirement to declare all expenses was also unreasonable. He said as a public official, he often gives donations to those seeking help, and under the new rule, they would have to issue receipts for every donation they make.

Duque welcomed moves to bring the matter to the courts so that a final ruling could be made on the controversy.

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