Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — Government officials and employees should be given the opportunity to correct errors and omissions made in their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), the Supreme Court said in a recently released document.
“Based on the determination that a SALN had not been submitted on time, is incomplete, or is not in proper form the head of office has five days to perform the ministerial duty to inform the official or employee concerned and direct them to take the necessary corrective action,” the high court said.
It said the official then has a non-extendable 30-day period to make the corrections upon receiving the order. If after the period the official or employee does not comply with the order, disciplinary action will be taken.The high court cited the case of Jessie Javier Carlos, a tax specialist with the Department of Finance, who was found guilty of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty in 2014 and dismissed for allegedly failing to disclose properties, business interests, and vehicles, as well as his liabilities in the SALN.
“In his defense, Carlos alleged that he completed his SALNs in good faith and that he should have been given an opportunity to correct his alleged omissions or mistakes,” the document said.
On the charges, Carlos said he complied with the disclosure requirement of RA 6713 and RA 3019, adding that the alleged omissions were not directly related to his obligations. Carlos’ petition to reverse the decision was granted in part although he was found guilty of dishonesty.In Carlos’ petition, the Supreme Court said he could not be held liable for the omissions and errors in his SALN because of “the government’s failure to comply with the review and compliance procedure in Section 10 of Republic Act No. 6713.The law said heads of office are required to determine if SALNs are complete.The SC decision said this “institutes a mechanism for review and an opportunity to rectify errors, specifically with respect to: (1) failure to submit on time; (2) incomplete SALNs; and formally defective SALNs.
