SALN lesson

AFTER all the legalese and drama, when the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona has come to pass, no matter what the outcome, there is one lesson that must linger with the Filipino people and our public servants if the nation were to come out wiser and stronger from this important episode in Philippine history: the power of the SaLN.

The once lowly and often taken-for-granted SALN – the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth – is a document that all those working in government and elected officials are required to submit annually under Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. It is a public document, which means information logged into the SALN are open for the people’s scrutiny. The basic underlying principle is that since those in government are receiving income from the taxpayers’ money, the public has the right to know about their other resources as well. It’s a tool for counter-checking lifestyles with income. It is a valuable record that can be used to support suspicions of corruption and for building up graft cases against government officials.

Now that the importance of the SaLN has been underscored, the SaLN is now like the Damocles sword hanging over every government employee and especially the elected official. Were they honest and truthful? The betting on the street is less than 1% of elected officials were not.  So, the overwhelming message is simply: be honest, or else!

At the local government level, constituents have a more intimate knowledge of their officials and it is easier for people to sniff out possible corrupt lifestyles. And the SaLN could be their ally in the pursuit of good governance. Luxury cars, real estate properties that are not in the SaLN? Spendings that appear beyond the declared wealth? Take the SaLN and go tell it to the Ombudsman.

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Saga continues

JUAN Ponce Enrile was liberally lenient. Renato Corona was lobbing lamentations left and right.

In the end, Corona appeared to have self-destructed, particularly when he left the hall unceremoniously, This became evident when Enrile let it all out.

Feeling insulted as he saw, rightfully, that his sala got bastardized by his guest that was Corona, Enrile ordered his misbehaving visitor to return and make amends with his host “or else…”

At presstime, the Chief Justice returned to the hall against his doctors’ advice to respond to the Impeachment Court’s questions. How the senator-judges will finally respond, only time will tell but it is not true that the saga will end there.

We expect more to unfold.

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