Millan: Contraband

Thursday, February 9, 2012

NO DOCUMENT in recent history has underwent the scrupulous scrutiny that the SALN of the Chief Justice is currently undergoing. All the items that were written are being reviewed like they were materials for the bar exam. All the items that were not written are being speculated on like they were the trick questions.

The SALN, a previously often ignored and often dismissed document as just another one of those ministerial functions that a government official or government employee needs to comply with, has instantly become the most important and the most threatening piece of paper that government personnel will now ever hold or now ever touch.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

For whatever it is worth, the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the Senate acting as an impeachment court is sending chills down the spine of all those in the civil service who formerly took the SALN for granted.

It is not just the Chief Justice, the head of the third and co-equal branch of the government, who is being crucified because of the SALN. Recently, even a mere clerk at the Bureau of Customs is being pilloried based on the SALN, as a consequence of course of driving the same sports car as that previously owned by the President despite earning the meager salary of a mere clerk, and as a result of course of the arrogance in the road rage against young students that immediately caught the attention of the media.

These two extreme cases of someone very high being crucified and someone very low being pilloried, all because of the SALN plus surrounding circumstances, means that from now on the SALN can also serve as a death certificate.

Therefore, everybody must from hereon take government rules and regulations seriously. For the first time in the history of our government, the administration is banging on all doors to awaken the sleeping public who are being robbed by thieves not just in the dark of the night but also in broad daylight. Since this is historical, maybe even monumental, it is hoped that the government is indeed embarking on this courageous, maybe even fierce, crusade against graft and corruption, for good governance and not just to come up with an excuse for poor performance.

Necessarily, this vigor and vitality for rectifying errors and correcting mistakes should cover everybody, especially those deeply involved in the exercise. The Senators, acting as the Jurors or Judges, must allow the same scrupulous scrutiny of their SALN.

The members of the House of Representatives, acting as the prosecutors, must allow the same scrupulous scrutiny of their SALN. We cannot say the same for the defense panel, however, as they are all private individuals, but they have their ITR to watch out for.

Truly, this entire process of impeachment has opened all the doors for honesty, integrity and transparency. Whether or not the people, those in the public sector and those in the private sector, will enter the doors is another story.

But now, somehow, a precedent has already been established, and this precedent should serve as a stern warning to all the cheats, liars and thieves, or those still planning to be one, or those still considering to be one.

All of us must be clean. All of us must not have any contraband.