EDITORIAL - Test case

Republic Act 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, prohibits public servants from accepting “directly or indirectly, a gift from a person other than a member of his family or relative… even on the occasion of a family celebration or national festivity like Christmas, if the value of the gift is neither nominal nor insignificant, or the gift is given in anticipation of, or in exchange for, a favor.”

The same law, enacted in 1989, also enjoins public officials and employees “and their families” to “lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income.”

So the Office of the Ombudsman has enough to go on with its probe into the junket enjoyed by Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa and his family in Las Vegas to watch the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas for the world welterweight crown. Reporters had asked the PNP chief how he could afford to watch the bout. Dela Rosa, oblivious to the existence of RA 6713, gladly disclosed that Pacquiao had bankrolled his family’s all-expenses-paid US holiday.

The billionaire senator is used to treating friends and paying for their trips to watch his prizefights. Pacquiao said he did not spend public money and he was acting as a private citizen when he treated Dela Rosa. But the PNP chief is a public official, and this is precisely the type of gift covered by the Code of Conduct. The amount involved is surely neither nominal nor insignificant.

This is a test for the application of this prohibition on gift-giving in government, which is one of the biggest sources of graft and influence peddling. With business class airfare and top-rate accommodations for the lucky PNP chief and his family, probably including per diem and shopping and entertainment money, the total could amount to several millions.

If this is allowed, the administration that promises to be clean is sending a clear message that it’s OK for Dela Rosa, his fellow cops and other public servants to accept such a fantabulous gift from a private citizen. Most of the people who give away such gifts rarely have purely benign intentions. Ridding the PNP of corrupt members is difficult enough as it is. Congratulating Dela Rosa for his lucky connections can only make the problem worse.

The Office of the Ombudsman must send its own message that if a public servant lives beyond his means, it’s because someone or something allows him to do so, and it’s usually against the law. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, or a free trip.