Time to end that fairy tale called SALN!

The annual Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) are out and in seven short days the incoming administration of President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will take over the reins of power and we can only hope that he would finally put an end to this most infamous of Filipino fairy tales because we all know that the figures that most (not all) of our elected officials submit are either beyond belief, hilarious if not next to impossible!

Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Republic Act 6713 a.k.a. the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees were created to address the problems of corruption, where public officials are supposed to declare under oath their assets and liabilities and that we the public have a right to know how much our public officials are worth. This is why this is published in all local and national newspapers for all to see.

Supposedly those public officials who fail to file or submit fictitious figures or items in their SALNs would face legal suit from the Office of the Ombudsman, but this is another fairy tale story peddled by the Anti-Graft body. We know too well that even with this law and the information that is publicized annually, we are amazed why hasn’t the incidence of corruption dropped or have been totally eradicated? Of course we know the answer to this problem… that in this country, surprisingly our legislators have crafted the best of laws, but we are next to zero in its implementation!

Anyway, the SALNs have shown that noteworthy names like Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza of Gabriela (both lost in the last May elections) had a net worth of P2.4 million and P2.8 million respectively, which just prove that being a cause-oriented advocate could be lucrative as they have landed in the proverbial millionaire’s club.

In Cebu, re-elected Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez has topped the millionaires’ club, having a net worth of P120.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2009. He also registered a huge jump from his net worth six years ago which was only P75.28 million in 2004. The Vice-Governor attributes this to businesses. Gov. Gwen Garcia was second placer having a net worth of P199.8 million who attributed this to her businesses based in Ormoc City.

Outgoing Cebu City Mayor and incoming South District Congressman Tomas Osmeña declared a net worth of P4 million as of Dec. 2009, while incoming Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama had a net worth of P1.5 million. Of course, many pundits in Cebu question all these SALNs, but unfortunately the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas does not care to check whether the statements that our public officials submitted truly reflect their lifestyles. In all honesty and fairness, who are we to say that these SALNs are true or false, unless the Office of the Ombudsman would come up with a special body to determine the veracity of these statements?

During the election campaign, we questioned Mandaue City Mayoralty candidate (former congresswoman) Nerissa Soon-Ruiz about certain statements she claimed which do not match her lifestyle. But then, the Office of the Ombudsman is just too busy to notice them and now that she lost her mayoralty bid, you might as well believe that all this will be forgotten.

Everyone knows that Noynoy Aquino won the Presidency with a promise and a vow to eradicate corruption because without corruption, Filipinos would finally be free from the manacles of poverty. This is why we would like to wish for the incoming Aquino Administration to strengthen the anti-graft body, which we’ve said in so many columns before has become almost inutile in our fight against corrupt government officials.

Perhaps what the Philippines really need is a different anti-graft body similar to Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) which has been so successful in jailing corrupt bureaucrats we haven’t heard much about corruption in Hong Kong anymore. But the ICAC doesn’t only file suits against corrupt government officials; they also strike against corrupt Hong Kong businessmen or executives.

I remember years back when the ICAC filed a suit against a stockbroker for insider trading and jailed the fellow. Just last March, the general manager of Hong Kong’s leading broadcaster and three other employees were arrested on suspicion that they accepted bribes from the production company director in exchange for contracts to stages shows on TV.

But then, one of the best excuses (though it’s a lame one) that the Office of the Ombudsman peddles to the Filipino people is that they are saddled with too many cases… that even the most controversial and well publicized corruption cases are not given any priority at all. Well, in the very near future, we can expect this to change under a Noynoy presidency!

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