GMA to set up intel unit for lifestyle check

President Arroyo plans to use government intelligence agents to check the lifestyle of public officials as part her administration’s campaign against graft and corruption.

Speaking over dzMM radio yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo said the lifestyle checks would be conducted by an intelligence unit to be set up within the Office of the President (OP).

"Because we could not just do a casual lifestyle check," she said. "It might be done very scientific and I was asking that experts in intelligence and counter-intelligence be the ones to do this."

Mrs. Arroyo said the OP’s intelligence arm would go after corrupt officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs in support of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC).

The agency is not equipped to investigate the lifestyle of public officials, she added.

Meanwhile, government agencies and non-government organizations formed yesterday the "Lifestyle Check Coalition" to go after officials in the executive department who are living beyond their means.

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, who heads the coalition, said they will initially investigate the "three most graft-ridden agencies," which he named as the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs.

"This will cover the directors and up (or the Cabinet secretaries) in the executive department," he said. "Legislators and the judiciary are not included. We will focus on the high-ranking government officials whose lifestyle is grossly disproportionate to their declared income."

Civil Service Commission Chairman (CSC) Karina David said the private sector’s involvement would expand the scope of data gathering on the lifestyle of public officials.

"You just give the information and we take care of the rest," she said. "Let’s start from the big fish. Let’s not start from the small people. We will start with those who are on top and we will slowly go down. The NGOs and civil society’s role is basically to provide us with the data. As to the CSC and COA, we have people in the field."

Marcelo said his office would take care of the criminal aspect in cases involving the forfeiture of ill-gotten property, while the PAGC under Dario Rama would be in charge of administrative cases elevated to the OP.

"But this is not a witchhunt," he said. "We will always check with their statement of assets and liabilities and verify their net worth before they joined the government."

Apart from the Ombudsman and the CSC, other government agencies comprising the coalition are: the PAGC, Department of Justice, Commission on Audit, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, National Youth Commission, National Association of Corruption and Prevention Units, and the Philippine Government Employees Association.

Private sector members are: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines–National Secretariat for Social Action, Transparency and Accountability Network, Citizens National Network Against Poverty and Corruption, and Citizens Battle Against Corruption. –Marichu Villanueva, Delon Porcalla