Lifestyle checks should continue
FIRST, it was the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which suggested that individuals who are entering the workforce of banks be vetted carefully and their backgrounds thoroughly checked before they are hired.
In my time, oral and written examinations were given persons who wish to get employed in banks like the Bank of the Philippine Islands. They were tough and excruciating to say the least.
Very few normally pass the rigid examinations for entrance into prestigious banks like the Bank of the Philippine Islands.
Lifestyle checks were resorted to especially in case of bank employees gone rogue or who have committed criminal acts towards the bank and the clients.
In government service, there is what is known as the Anti-Red Tape Act or ARTA which allows the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to investigate anomalous dealings of government employees.
In my stint at the Mabalacat City hall, I have never heard or seen an employee charged under the ARTA law. Every office at the city hall was required to display, on tarpaulins, the processes observed in getting permits or documents from said office, including the time spent and the person responsible. This is to allow transparency and accountability in the ranks.
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Thus, Executive Order No. 43, Series of 2017 as amended by EO No. 73, series of 2017 states: that the PACC may, upon instructions of the President or motu propio (by itself) conduct lifestyle checks and fact-finding inquiries on acts or omissions of all presidential appointees, including those outside the Executive I believe this isBreaansciehrosfagidovtehrannmdeonnt.e, as there are many crooks in government, especially in the Bureaus of Customs and Internal Revenue.
Well, ARTA Director General Jeremiah Belgica disclosed that they have already gathered some leads about the background of individuals up for PACC’s lifestyle checks.
Director Belgica should act fast to catch thieves in government; otherwise much would be lost to their shenanigans.
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The adage public office is a public trust has lost its original sacred meaning. It is undisputed nowadays as public property is also the property of the individual holding power over it.