Submitted by Vox Bikol on
MANILA, Philippines (Feb. 11, 2012) - The usefulness of the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) is now being put to test in holding government employees accountable from the level of Chief Justice who is now under impeachment trial to that of lower-level positions.
An employee of the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) in Davao City failed the government’s lifestyle check after he did not file his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) and allegedly amassed unlawful wealth.
The Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) of the Department of Finance filed criminal and administrative charges at the Office of the Ombudsman against Landbank’s Agrarian Affairs Specialist Elmer Luceno Olores last Feb. 9.
“Olores was confirmed to have accumulated unlawful wealth beyond his salary as a public servant and other lawful income, failed to file his sworn SALNs, and reported conflicting information in the same documents,” the finance department said in a statement.
Olores, presently assigned at LandBank’s Agrarian Operations Center in Region 11 in Davao City, did not report several assets including a 400-square meter residential lot in Quirino District, Padada, Davao del Sur; a two-story residential house in Babak, Samal Island; and a couple of motorcycles registered separately in his name and that of his wife in his SALN.
Olores did not disclose any cash on hand or in any bank account.
Investigators also discovered that Olores failed to file his SALN for 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2009 in gross violation of Section 7 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in relation to Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees.
Documentary evidence showed that aside from his salary, Olores and his family had no other source of income that would enable them to accumulate their present properties.
In 1990, Olores declared only a handful of personal assets in his SALN, including a typewriter worth P5,000 and a Honda motorcycle CG125 worth P13,500.
However, the assets of Olores increased to P409,000 in 1996 to include farm lots in Trento and Rosario in Agusan del Sur; a chainsaw; and three personal vehicles – a Fuso Canter utility vehicle, a Ford Fiera, and a motorcycle – while he earned only P123,600 a year.
Olores’ SALN also showed that he purchased farm lots in Panabo, Davao del Norte and Tagbina, Surigao del Sur worth P380,000 in 2000 and 2001.
Based on his SALN in 2005, he acquired a Fuso Canter light truck and a Mitsubishi mini dump truck worth P270,000 while subsisting only on a yearly compensation of P282,000.
Olores’ SALN in 2007 revealed that he acquired a Mitsubishi Pajero for P280,000 and a chainsaw for P50,000 and at the same time infused P140,000 in his cattle investment.
He also paid off a P300,000 bank loan, notwithstanding that he only had an annual income of P301,140 then.
For 2010, his SALN showed a John Deere farm tractor worth P450,000 even though his reported gross salary that year was only P318,660.
Olores’ SALNs divulged more than a few discrepancies regarding his total assets, as it was found out that several real and personal properties were belatedly declared when these were, as a matter of fact, purchased years ago.
His service record indicates that his gross annual income is only P318,660.
Olores’ illegal acts are punishable under Section 7, Republic Act 3019, as amended; Section 8 (A), RA 6713; Falsification of Official Documents and Perjury under the Articles 171 (4) and 183, Revised Penal Code; Grave Misconduct, Gross Neglect of Duty, and Serious Dishonesty under the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (RRACCS).
In its complaint, RIPS urged the Office of the Ombudsman to place Olores under preventive suspension without pay pending investigation of the administrative and criminal cases against the latter pursuant to Section 24, RA 6770, or the Ombudsman Act of 1989.
If found liable, Olores could be dismissed from the service while his properties would be forfeited by the government in accordance with Section 2, RA 1379, also known as the Forfeiture of Ill-Gotten Wealth Act. (For Philstar.com)