By Emmanuel Canto
Article 11, Section 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution dictates that the public office is a public trust. It mandates that all government officials and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people; serve with responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; as well as act with patriotism and justice; and lead modest lives.
Republic Act (RA) No. 1379 indicates that any wealth acquired by a public officer that is manifestly out of proportion to their salary is legally presumed to be ill-gotten. If officials fail to explain the discrepancy, they face severe administrative and criminal penalties, including perpetual disqualification from holding public office and the forfeiture of their unlawfully acquired assets in favor of the state.
A lifestyle check is an investigative strategy used to determine if a public servant’s standard of living and accumulated wealth are manifestly out of proportion to their lawful salary. In the Philippines, this anti-corruption mechanism is rooted in the constitutional principle.
Civil servants are ultimately accountable to the Filipino people and must take by heart that the tenets of public office must be practiced. However, now that our officials are flooded with graft and corruption issues, it is up to our courts to determine the culpability of the accused.
If my memory serves me right, when the flood control controversy was exposed, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ordered a lifestyle check on all government officials — culminating with those in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) — as part of a widening scrutiny of flood control projects. Marcos appointed Vince Dizon as DPWH secretary. Dizon ordered the courtesy resignation of the high-ranking officials of DPWH. What happened after that? A bunch of cases are still pending before our courts, the investigations continue and, maybe, more cases are to be filed.
I hope that our government, at all costs, must investigate all government agencies for transparency and impartiality’s sake and not focus its efforts only on DPWH.
RA 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, provides that public officials cannot resign or retire while under investigation for prosecution of offenses.
RA 3019, enacted on August 17, 1960, addresses and penalizes corruption committed by public officials who engage in or abet graft. Its core aim is to instill a higher standard of morality in public service by repressing acts of dishonesty, bribery, extortion, and other forms of corruption.
On the other hand, some organizations are calling for President Marcos Jr. to implement the ban on political dynasties if he wants to win the war against rampant corruption in the bureaucracy.
The Federation of Free Workers denounced political dynasties as “one of the main roots of corruption in Philippine society that needs to be eradicated at once. It urged Marcos to include the passage of the Anti-Political Dynasty Law in his priority legislative agenda if he is serious about fighting corruption.
Lifestyle checks are helpful but not enough. Political dynasties breed corruption because public office is treated like a family business. The core essence of good leadership must be rooted in genuine service./WDJ