MARIO L. NAVALEZ JR.

JURIS DOCTOR 3
FUNDAMENTALS ON THESIS WRITING

Are the New Regulations of the Ombudsman on the Acquisition of

Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth Constitutional?

Constitutional provisions on public trust, accountability and submission

of SALN.

The Constitution provides for the submission of SALN of public official

and employees under Article XI Section 17 which reads: “A public officer or
employer shall, upon assumption of office and as often thereafter as may be
required by law, submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities and
net worth”. Furthermore, the declaration shall be disclosed in public in the
manner provided by law. The submission of SALN is also provided under the
Administrative Code of 1987 under Book 1, Chapter 9, Section 34 as well as
Section 8 of Republic Act 6713 which governs the conduct and ethical
standards for public officials and employees. R.A. 6713 also provides for the
accessibility of the SALN and other statements such as: (1) Any and all
statements filed under RA 6713 shall be made available for inspection at
reasonable hours; (2) Such statements shall be made available for copying or
reproduction after 10 working days from the time they filed as required by law;
(3) Any person requesting a copy of a statement shall be required to pay a
reasonable fee to cover the cost of reproduction and mailing of such statement,
as well as the cost of certification; and (4) any statement filed under R.A. 6713
shall be available to the public for a period of 10 years after receipt of the
statement. After, such period, the statement may be destroyed unless needed
in an on-going investigation. The Administrative Code of 1987, book 1, Chapter
9, Sec. 34 states that: “A public officer or employee shall upon assumption of
office and as often thereafter as may be required by law, submit declaration
under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth.

Republic Act 6713 also enumerates the Norms of Conduct of Public

Officials and Employees under Section 4 such as; a) Commitment to public
interest; b) Professionalism; c) Justice and Sincerity; d) Political Neutrality; e)
Responsiveness to the public; f) Nationalism and Patriotism; g)Commitment to
democracy; and h) Simple living. Commitment to public interest provides that:
“Public officials and employees shall always uphold the public interest over and
above personal interest while simple living reiterates that a public official and
employee and their families shall lead modest lives appropriate to their
positions and income. That they shall not indulge in extravagant or
ostentatious display of wealth in any form. Also, public officials and employees
must maintain the principle of public accountability.

The former and recent regulation of Ombudsman on the acquisition of

SALN.

The former Memorandum Circular No. 2 Series of 2012 entitle

“Guidelines on Public Access to Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth
(SALNs) Filed with the Office of the Ombudsman”, under Section 1 provides that;
“All Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth filed with the Office of the
Ombudsman, including its area and sectoral offices, shall be accessible and
made available to the public for inspection and reproduction during reasonable
hours of working days, subject to the guidelines”.

The Ombudsman recently issued Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of

2020 entitled “Amended Guidelines on Public Access to Statements of Assets,
Liabilities and Net Worth and Disclosure of Business Interests and Financial
Connections Filed with the Office of the Ombudsman” and under Section 1 are
the grounds on which a request for SALN should be granted or denied such as,
a) he/she is the declarant or the duly authorized representative of the
declarant; b) the requested is upon lawful order of the court in relation to a
pending case; and c) the request is made by this Office’s Field Investigation
Office/Bureau/Unit (FOI/FIB/ for the purpose of fact-finding investigation and
the latter part of Section 1 it is mentioned that in all other instances, no SALN
will be furnished to the requester unless he/she presents a notarized letter of
authority from the declarant allowing the release of the requested SALN. The
question now is whether the Memorandum is constitutional or
unconstitutional.

The former regulation on the accessibility of SALN does not qualify any
person from accessing and it is open to the public eye while the recent
regulation enumerates the persons who are authorize to request for the SALN
such as the declarant or his/her duly authorized representative, request upon
lawful order of the court and request by the Office of the Ombudsman’s FOI.
Problem areas on the guidelines that violates the constitutionality of
accessibility of SALN’s.

Clearly, the most obvious problem in the new guidelines on the Office of
the Ombudsman on the accessibility of Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net
Worth is in Section 1 wherein it provides for the grounds on which a request
for the release of SALN shall be granted or denied. Section 1 enumerates the
grounds on which a request shall be granted or denied that absent such
grounds will automatically deny the request for release of such SALN. The
grounds which are enumerated is undoubtedly a violation of Article XI Section
17 of the Constitution which provides that a SALN shall be disclose to the
public in a manner provided for by law.

Supreme Court ruling.

In the case of Concepcion Daplas vs. Department of Finance, the

Supreme Court has held that:

“It should be emphasized that the laws on SALN aim to curtail

the acquisition of unexplained wealth. Thus, in several cases where
the source of the undisclosed wealth was properly accounted for, the
Court deemed the same an "explained wealth" which the law does
not penalize. Consequently, absent any intent to commit a wrong, and
having accounted for the source of the "undisclosed wealth," as in this
case, petitioner cannot be adjudged guilty of the charge of Dishonesty;
but at the most, of mere negligence for having failed to accomplish her
SALN properly and accurately.

Negligence is the omission of the diligence which is required by the

nature of the obligation and corresponds with the circumstances of the
persons, of the time, and of the place. In the case of public officials,
there is negligence when there is a breach of duty or failure to
perform the obligation, and there is gross negligence when a breach of
duty is flagrant and palpable. An act done in good faith, which
constitutes only an error of judgment and for no ulterior motives
and/or purposes,51 as in the present case, is merely Simple
Negligence.”
Conclusion.

The Constitution is not ambiguous in stating the importance for the

submission of SALN and for its release to the public without any hindrance.
Article XI Section 17 of the Constitution clearly states that the SALN shall be
disclose to the public in a manner provided for by law. The purpose of which is
to earn the public’s trust and confidence which is vital in being a public official
or employee. The Memorandum issued by the Ombudsman hinders the public
from accessing the documents which affects the transparency of the
government to the public and that the public has all the right to know how
their public officials and employees lifestyle which are reflected in their SALNs.

The conduct of public officials and employees is vital in the preservation

of the government such that dishonesty of public official in their SALN is
tantamount to dishonesty to the public. The accessibility of such SALN to the
general public one of the tools of the government in curbing out corruption and
protecting the interest of the public and absent such accessibility is clearly a
violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.