Ombudsman to implement e-SALN starting next year

Starting next year, more than a million civil servants in the country are required to file their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) electronically.

This, after Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales signed Memorandum Circular No. 2 directing all heads of departments, bureaus, offices and agencies of national and local government offices, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, government-owned and controlled corporations and their subsidiaries and other concerned offices, to submit all original hard copies of the SALN of officials and employees together with the corresponding electronic copies on or before June 30 of every year.

The web-based electronic filing system called e-SALN requires public officials to submit their asset papers in PDF format and must be individually saved per declarant in compact discs or flash drives.

The circular also requires the submission of a certification stating that the electronically submitted SALNs are faithful reproductions of the original copies.

In May 2013, the Ombudsman and the World Bank entered into an agreement dubbed as the “Enhancing the Income and Asset Declaration System” aimed at developing a digital-based online system for the bureaucracy-wide filing of SALNs beginning 2018.

In May 2016, the Ombudsman launched the e-SALN system with the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission as pilot agencies under phase I, followed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Internal Audit and Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs under phase 2.

In the new system, any official or employee of the government may access, fill up and file the SALN over the internet.

The e-SALN is a “key institutional mechanism to combat corruption and promote accountability and ethical standards in public service,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.

Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees mandates all government officials and employees to file their SALNs within thirty days after assumption of office, or on or before April 30 of every year thereafter, and within 30 days after separation from the service.

However, those who serve in an honorary capacity, laborers and casual or temporary workers are exempted from the filing.

The document is considered as a “potent tool” to determine ill-gotten wealth as it includes a waiver authorizing the anti-graft office or his authorized representatives to obtain documents that may show assets, liabilities, net worth, business interests, and financial connections from all appropriate government agencies for investigatory purposes.

Public officials may be charged with perjury and falsification of public documents if their SALNs do not reflect their true wealth. /