EDITORIAL - Lifestyle checks

The previous ombudsman, Samuel Martires, had stopped the conduct of lifestyle checks on officials suspected of corruption. He said such checks are “illogical” and provide opportunities for extortion.

Defending the ombudsman’s budget before Congress in 2020, Martires told lawmakers: “We have to redefine what is living beyond your means. What is simple living to me may not be simple living to you or anyone.”

Yesterday, President Marcos opened a window to prove Martires wrong, and show what can be done. Amid anomalies involving flood control projects, the President has ordered lifestyle checks on government officials, starting with those in the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Multiple agencies are expected to be tapped in carrying out the lifestyle checks, including the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs and the Commission on Audit.

If the country had laws against racketeering, such a multi-agency asset probe would have been a standard operating procedure. But even in the absence of racketeering laws, which Congress has consistently refused to pass, simply comparing tax payments with the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, which all government officials are required to submit annually, could provide a hint of living beyond one’s means.

Several Cabinet members including Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan expressed readiness to undergo a lifestyle check. Whether other officials will be as cooperative remains to be seen.

The President can order only officials in the executive branch to subject themselves to a lifestyle check. But because the scandal over flood control triggered the President’s order, there are those who say the lifestyle checks should also cover members of Congress, a number of whom are being implicated in substandard and non-existent or ghost flood control projects.

Will lawmakers, especially those who are being linked directly to contractors, go along with lifestyle checks? Or will they run to the courts for a restraining order in case they feel pressured to subject their assets to close scrutiny?

A lifestyle check enhances a probe for possible involvement in corrupt deals. It provides clues for conducting a deeper probe. At the very least, those who willingly cooperate can quickly establish innocence and the legitimacy of their assets.