Republic Act 6713, also known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, covers the topic on SALN and liabilities. The Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) is an annual document submitted by public officials. These are public notarized and submitted under oath containing their assets and networth. Its purpose is to uphold the principle of public trust among officials. Additionally, the act also targets in upholding transparency and to determine whether officials have unexplained wealth and corruption1.
The submission and filing of SALN is mandated by the 1987 Constitution. Under article XI, section 17, it states that any public official or officer is required to submit upon assumption of office and during their term, to submit their SALN under oath2.
Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth
By its name, SALN is a sworn declaration of any public official’s assets, liabilities, and net worth. This also includes their spouse and unmarried minor children who live with them. This is open to public inspection for 10 years unless otherwise needed for investigation, and is available for copying 10 working days once it has been filed.
Required Information
Information on real and personal properties, net worth, and finances are needed to be included in the SALN. For real properties, these consist of land and everything affixed to it. Their description, kind, location, acquisition cost, and fair market value should be included in the SALN to be submitted. On the other hand, personal properties are movable items such as vehicles, cash, jewelry, and the like are also included. For the net worth, it’s total assets minus total liabilities. In relation to this, one’s business interests and financial matters should also be incorporated.
Compliance Safeguard
Seeing that SALN is a public document and should promote transparency and trust, compliance in filing it is a must. As provided under section 10, Congress committees and agency heads are assigned to review the SALN to check for any deficiencies and should communicate with the filer if there are any. These persons or offices in authority are the Ombudsman (for national officials), Secretaries of the Congress, Court offices, or CSC. This should be submitted within thirty (30) days from assuming the office, must be done on or before April 30 annually, and also within 30 days after separation from service.
Nature of Non-Compliance
If an official fails to adhere to such compliance, they shall be subject to legal consequences. Non-compliance can come in the forms of: failure to file, late filing, filing of incomplete SALN, making fraudulent declarations, and failure to disclose all necessary items required by law.
Liabilities and Penalties
Liabilities and penalties would depend on the gravity of non-compliance. For administrative grounds, these are handled by the Civil Service Commission, the Ombudsman, or the government agency head. Non-filing and incomplete filing of SALN would constitute a suspension for the first offense, and a dismissal from service for the second offense. False declaration is a more serious offense which accounts for dismissal from service and even forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth.
There could also be criminal liabilities and penalties for non-compliance and falsification of SALN. An official can be liable for perjury given that they made a false declaration of their SALN – a sworn statement. This is punishable by imprisonment (arresto mayor or prison mayor) and a fine. Furthermore, they can also be disqualified from public office.
In the case of Jessie Carlos, was a public official dismissed for not disclosing his SALN from 2000 to 2010. It was found out that his wealth was not proportionate to his income. After finding him guilty of grave misconduct and gross negligence of duty, he was immediately dismissed. However, the Supreme Court ruled that he could not be held liable for the SALN omissions since he was not given the opportunity to correct his errors– which is provided in RA 6713 section 10. Because of this instance, he was cleared of the charges. The court also emphasized that administrative penalties cannot be imposed without providing officials the opportunity to correct their errors in their SALN3.
- Republic Act No. 6713, An Act Establishing a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (1989) ↩︎
- Article XI, Section 17. In The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (as amended). Office of the Ombudsman. ↩︎
- Jessie Javier Carlos v. Department of Finance – Revenue Integrity Protection Service and Office of the Ombudsman, G.R. No. 225774.
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