EDITORIAL - The SALN as an investigating tool

A while back, the Ombudsman made headlines when he made it more difficult to access the Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth of public officials. He also said the SALN has been abused to destroy politicians and officials. 

We earlier said that access to SALNs should not be hindered as they are a useful tool when it comes to investigating corruption. Some latest developments further support our stand.

There are some developments into the probe into the “pastillas” scheme allegedly perpetrated by employees of the Bureau of Immigration. In case you have forgotten what the “pastillas” scheme was, it’s the system that provides easy entry for Chinese nationals into the country in exchange for grease money in the hands of BI employees. The cash is allegedly rolled into the shape of small sweets, hence the name pastillas.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation, they found out upon checking SALNs that some BI employees have lifestyles that cannot be supported by their wages alone.

A special unit leader of the NBI said one employee was found out to have a monthly salary of only P32,000 a month, but whose net worth was P27.9 million. He also had several residential properties and luxury vehicles to his name.

Another employee only claimed to receive P14,000 a month, but was worth P10 million.

They also observed that some BI employees took regular monthly trips abroad and drove around in expensive sports cars and sports utility vehicles. He confirmed that one of these employees saw his fortunes rise just about the time the pastillas scheme was said to have been at its height.

However, the agent was quick to say the bloated SALNs do not immediately prove that the BI employees made money from the illegal scheme.

We agree with the FBI that a SALN that shows immense wealth isn’t already an indication of being involved in corruption. It could be as the NBI says; that many of these BI employees have legitimate and lucrative ventures and legal sources of income aside from their government wages. It’s only wise to have more than one source of cash flow in these uncertain times after all.

Unlike those who are tasked to come up with lists of “designated terrorists” we also believe that people should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

So while guilt has not been established, this again proves that the SALN is an invaluable tool when it comes to gathering evidence against those suspected of graft, whether to pin them down or exonerate them.

It should also be noted that the NBI has not reached the end of their investigation yet. So who knows what they will still uncover.