Rewrite SALN law—Sen. Santiago

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago

Confusion over what assets government officials and employees should declare in their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) makes it imperative for Congress to rewrite the law prescribing the declaration, according to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Santiago said a divergent interpretation of existing laws apparently prompted some of her colleagues to vote to  convict Chief Justice Renato Corona for his failure to disclose his foreign and local currency deposits in his SALN.

In a radio interview, Santiago said the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713) requires that all assets be listed in the SALN.

Corona’s critics interpreted this directive to include his dollar accounts.

However, Corona’s lawyers invoked the Foreign Currency Deposits Act (FCDA or Republic Act 6426) that provides for the confidentiality of foreign bank deposits.

Santiago, a former judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, noted that in cases of conflicting provisions between a general law like Republic Act  6713 and a special law like Republic Act 6426, the special law prevails.

The senator pointed this out when the senator-judges voted at the end of Corona’s impeachment trial.

Still she was unable to convince 20 of the 23 senator-judges who deemed the Chief Justice guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of the public trust for his failure to disclose all his bank deposits in his SALN.

Santiago noted that the Civil Service Commission (CSC)—which is in charge of checking whether the entries in a SALN are correct—would encounter problems in doing its job unless there was a law that listed down all the assets that needed to be declared.

“The best way to deal with this problem is to determine what should be included and what are the exceptions.  We do this so there would be no room for doubt.  Remember, the case against the Chief Justice was about doubt,” she said.

Santiago said only Congress could make this clarification.

As it was, she noted, the CSC deferred a plan to require all government officials and employees to list down even expenditures for groceries, travel and other items not normally included in the SALN. Cathy Yamsuan