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Sunday, March 19, 2006
Beat SAL deadline, Labella asks colleagues
A Cebu City councilor is reminding fellow elected officials to submit their statements of assets and liabilities (SAL) with the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas before the deadline.
He said the city mayor, vice mayor and councilors must do this before April 30.
Lawyer Edgardo Labella, chairman of the council committee on laws, ordinances, public accountability and good governance, was a former director of the region’s anti-graft office.
As officials, they must serve as examples in following the law, he pointed out.
Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees requires them to submit a declaration, under oath, of their assets, liabilities, net worth and financial and business interests.
They are also mandated to declare the assets of spouses and unmarried children under 18 years old living in their households.
The names of relatives working in the government should also appear in their SALs.
The SAL is a financial statement that public officials are required to submit to the anti-graft office every year.
It helps the Office of the Ombudsman keep track of any drastic change in the net worth of public officials, which could indicate unexplained wealth. Many “lifestyle checks” begin when questions are raised about SAL revelations.
Officials receiving salary grade 22 or a monthly salary of P19,251 or more are required to file their SALs with the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña currently receives a monthly salary of P28,875, while Vice Mayor Michael Rama gets P24,359. City councilors, on the other hand, get P23,422 a month.
Officials and government employees receiving salary grade 21 or a monthly salary of P18,510 or less must submit their SALs to the City Adminis-trator’s Office.
All covered
The law covers all public officials and employees, elected or appointed, whether regular or casual.
Violation of the law is punishable with imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding P5,000.
“I’m reminding them that we have an obligation as public officials under the accountability of public office provision of the Constitution,” Labella said.
Although the anti-graft office requires written requests, the SAL is a public document that is supposed to be open to the individual citizen’s scrutiny.
Among other things, the SAL reveals a public official’s business interests, bank deposits, real and personal properties, as well as loans.
Using the SAL, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, for example, tracked increases in President Arroyo’s net worth, from P6.7 million in 1992 to about P72 million in 2002.
The site also includes scanned images of former president Joseph Estrada’s SALs, from 1985 to 1999. (See http://www.pcij.org) (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 19, 2006 issue)
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