The Supreme Court has ruled that public officials and employees are allowed to correct errors, omissions, and non-submissions of their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
In an en banc decision, the High Court resolved and set aside the dismissal due to dishonesty of a tax specialist from the Department of Finance who was accused of concealing millions worth of real properties, motor vehicles, business interests, and loans.
Jessie Javier Carlos, whose gross annual salary at the DOF only ranged from P126,000 to P210,000 between 2000 and 2011, allegedly secured two houses and lots worth P4.1 million, farm lots worth P4 million, vehicles, loans, and credit card debts—purportedly beyond his government earnings and not declared in his SALNs.
The High Court said it was putting the focus on the real evil instead — the accumulation of ill-gotten wealth — by allowing simple errors to be weeded out.
The failure to comply with the SALN law has led to the ouster of two chief justices: Renato Corona, who was impeached and convicted in 2012 for failure to disclose assets in his SALNs, and Maria Lourdes Serenowho was ousted in 2018 on a quo warranto petition due to non-filing of SALNs.
Justice Leonen himself faced an impeachment complaint before the House of Representatives over his supposed failure to file SALNs. It was dismissed, 44-2, due to the complainant’s lack of personal knowledge and the absence of authentic documents.
The new SC decision on SALN is on top of a 2020 Ombudsman circular which limited access to SALNs to the public official who filed it orthe authorized representative, a court, or the Ombudsman’s field investigation units, bureaus, or offices.
In clearing Carlos of dishonesty, the Supreme Court said the government failed to comply with Sec. 10 of RA 6713 or the review and compliance procedure of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Under the provision, a review and compliance committee should check if SALNs submitted are on time, complete, or in proper form.
According to the tribunal, if SALNs are not filed on time, are incomplete, or are not in proper form, the head of the office has five days to inform the public official or employee to correct the deficiency within 30 days.
If he or she fails to comply, only then can a public official or employee be disciplined.
“Unless the review and compliance procedure is followed, the violation does not arise. Consequently, if there is no violation, there is no liability,” the SC said.
The SC decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, and concurred by all 14 other justices, abandoned its previous interpretations that the review and compliance procedure is only internal and does not apply if the Ombudsman investigates.
Nonetheless, the SC sought to allay concerns it was tolerating the concealment of ill-gotten wealth.