Philippine Congress. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Lifestyle checks on members of Congress? Sure, but don’t forget mayors and governors.
House of Representatives Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II said he was not against mandatory lifestyle checks on members of Congress, as proposed by some quarters, but it should be done for “everyone in government.”
“Why single out one institution? Why just congressmen — why not mayors and governors, too?” he told reporters during a news briefing Tuesday.
He said he was in favor of regular lifestyle checks on House members “if there’s a need,” which he explained to mean “if there are already cases against them.”
Lifestyle checks should cover “all elected officials,” Gonzales said. “I hope government has enough people to do that.”
A lifestyle check, according to the Office of Ombudsman, refers to an investigation strategy developed by anti-corruption agencies to determine the existence of ill-gotten and unexplained wealth of officials and employees of the government.
The law requires every public officer to submit a statement of assets, liabilities and net worth periodically, but a lifestyle check will help confirm or belie the truth of the disclosed information.
On Monday, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he had no objections to lifestyle checks on members of the House of Representatives. “But that’s not something that you can impose on everybody here,” he said.
“Is it necessary? I don’t think so. [For] people with particular issues, of course, but if you’re somebody with no issues, I think it’s not really that needed,” he told reporters.
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