EDITORIAL - A step toward honesty

Today is the deadline for the filing not only of income tax returns but also, for public servants, of their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALN. Last year Renato Corona was ousted as chief justice largely over inaccuracies in his asset declarations. Public awareness of the SALN increased during Corona’s unprecedented Senate impeachment trial.

Since then government officials and employees, including police and military officers, have reportedly taken pains to study the requirements for filing SALNs. In some agencies, briefings were given to assist employees worried that they could face administrative and even criminal charges for mistakes in their declarations. Honest employees have sighed that an accomplished accountant is needed to comply correctly with the detailed requirements.

There are honest public servants, but there are also unscrupulous ones, who may have studied the rules thoroughly to ensure that they can get away with lying about their assets. It’s not just a noble desire to serve the public that motivates certain individuals to remain in government, despite the challenging tasks and low pay. Requiring government workers to file SALNs is meant to discourage personal enrichment using public office. This objective, however, has not been achieved because of the limited capability of the state to verify the accuracy of asset declarations. Those who steal big usually can afford expensive accountants who can make the most blatant SALN lies appear to be truthful.

With limited resources, the best that authorities can do is to conduct random verification of SALNs. The Bureau of Internal Revenue and Commission on Audit have banded together for certain projects to promote transparency and prevent corruption. The two agencies can also cooperate in encouraging honesty in the filing of SALNs. For a long time, the SALN has been nothing more than a source of comic relief for a disbelieving public. It’s time to make the annual filing a step toward promoting honesty in government.