New SALN rules require officials to identify in-laws

MANILA, Philippines - Apart from stricter rules in the declaration of a government official or employee’s wealth, the new rules on how to accomplish a statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) now require identification of one’s balae, bilas and inso, or in-laws.

Based on the guidelines issued by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), public officials must declare the names of their relatives in government not only up to the fourth civil degree of consanguinity but also of affinity.

This means that even the names of a government official or employee’s non-blood relatives who are working in government should appear in their SALNs.

The new rules, issued after thorough study by a technical working group (TWG) headed by the CSC under Chairman Francisco Duque III, defines a balae as the “parent of the declarant’s son-in-law or daughter-in-law.”

“Bilas refers to a declarant’s brother-in-law’s wife or sister-in-law’s husband,” the guidelines, copies of which were released to media on Monday, state.

“Inso refers to the appellation for the wife of an elder brother or male cousin,” according to the new rules.

The new rules also clarify that the disclosure “shall also state his/her relationship with the relative, the position of the relative, as well as the name of office/agency and address.”

Such clear-cut policy was an offshoot of the impeachment trial of former chief justice Renato Corona, wherein the properties of his daughter Charina and her husband were revealed.

Duque earlier said that utmost honesty must be observed in filling up a SALN form, which means declaring everything including foreign deposit accounts, properties exclusively owned by a spouse, and even condominium units that are yet to be paid in full.

Under the new guidelines, even the heads of offices of government agencies can now be held administratively liable if an official or employee fails to properly accomplish their SALNs or file the same on time every year.

Like the government official or employee who actually committed the offense, heads of agencies who will not do their job in accordance with the procedures of review and compliance committees that should be created will likewise face sanctions.

For simple neglect, the head of the agency may be suspended for as long as six months on the first offense and face dismissal from the service on second offense.

The new guidelines are so specific that it even instructs government officials and employees to “write legibly if he chooses to fill up the (SALN) form by handwriting.”

Because of the Corona impeachment trial, Duque said the CSC saw the need to review the SALN form and the rules governing it in order to transform the same into “an effective tool for public accountability and transparency.”