Republic Act 6713, known as Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of

Public Officials and Employees. This law contains the standards which public
employees must follow and contains penalties for its violation

Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and Employees

Section 4 of this act contains the Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and
Employees:
 Commitment to public interest
 Professionalism
 Justness and sincerity.
 Political neutrality.
 Responsiveness to the public.
 Nationalism and patriotism.
 Commitment to democracy.
 Simple living.

Commitment to public interest: Employees and Officials should put the public

interest above their own, that means honesty in usage of government funds and
property and to be used for office purposes only.

Professionalism: Government employees and officials should do their duty in a

competent manner just like in the private industry, as the general public would
be the ones that would benefit from the services offered.

Justness and sincerity: Public Officials and Employees are expected to have

good morals. They are also not allowed to discriminate by wealth.

Political neutrality: Public Officials and Employees are not allowed to

discriminate by political beliefs or ideology

Responsiveness to the public: Just like Professionalism, government employees

should provide the best service that they can provide to the public and assist
them with any concerns that they have. They should provide info that the public
can understand clearly.

Nationalism and patriotism: Government officials and employees are required

to be loyal to the state, obviously since it is the state itself who is paying the
salary. It is a crime to change nationalities or apply for immigration during his
tenure.

Commitment to democracy: As the Philippines itself has a democratic form of

government where authority is derived from the voting populace. Officials and
Employees are expected to uphold the constitution, recognize the superiority of
civilian authority to military and put the country above party lines or persons.

Simple living: As public servants generally receive lower salaries than private
companies (Although retirement benefits for retiring government officials are
much, much better), they are expected to live a lifestyle in proportion to their
salary and not engage in extravagance like some “instagram influencers”. This is
why they need to submit Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, to
check if there are any discrepancies.

These norms are enforced by the Constitutional office of the Civil Service

Commission, the ones who are in charge of the Civil Service Exams.

Duties of Public Officials and Employees.

In Section 5 of this Act, states the Duties of Public Officials and Employees.

1. Act promptly on letters and requests.

2. Submit annual performance reports.
3. Process documents and papers expeditiously.
4. Act immediately on the public’s personal transactions.
5. Make documents accessible to the public.

Act promptly on letters and requests: Government employees are required

within 15 working days to reply to letters, emails, phone calls, etc. Must
contain the action taken on the request
Submit annual performance reports: 45 working days from the end of the
year, government offices are required to submit annual performance
reports as a basis to check the performance of each office and to select
outstanding officials and employees. These reports are available for public
viewing
Process documents and papers expeditiously: All official documents and
papers must be processed and completed at a reasonable time frame. No
 more than 3 signatories are required and if that signatory is absent, The
next officer would sign on his behalf.
Act immediately on the public’s personal transactions: Government
employees must attend to the public at all times.
Make documents accessible to the public: Non confidential documents
should be available for inspection by the public within working hours.

System of Incentives and Rewards.

The government offers incentives and rewards to performing government
officials and employees. This is based on the submission of Annual
Performance Reports after the end of the year. This is stated in Section 6
of the act.
The committee supervising this is the Committee on Awards to Outstanding
Public Officials and Employees. They are composed of the following;
Ombudsman and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission as Co-
Chairmen, Chairman of the Commission on Audit and 2 Government
employees selected by the President of the Philippines as Members.
Conferment of awards shall take into account the following:
1. Years of service
2. Quality and consistency of performance
3. Obscurity of the position
4. Level of salary
5. Unique and exemplary quality of a certain achievement
6. Risks or temptations inherent in the work
 Incentives and rewards may take the form of the following
1. Bonuses
2. Citations
3. Directorships in Government Owned and Controlled Corporations
4. Local and Foreign scholarship grants
5. Paid Vacations
The awardees are automatically promoted to the next higher rank with an
upgraded salary. In case there is no next higher position or it is not
vacant, said position shall be included in the budget of the office in the
next General Appropriations Act.

Legislating the General Appropriations Act • The General

Appropriations Act (GAA) is one of the most important legislatio0ns that
Congress annually passes. • It defines the annual expenditure program of
the national government and all of its instrumentalities. The expenditure
program includes all programs and projects that are supposed to be funded
out of government funds for the year.
Prohibited Acts and Transactions

Section 7 of the act contains the prohibited acts and transactions. Doing
these acts are considered unlawful by the constitution.
1. Financial and material interest: Public officials and employees cannot have
financial or material interest in their office, whether directly or indirectly
2. Outside employment and other activities related thereto: These are
divided into 3 separate parts. These acts are prohibited during their
incumbency
a. Having a stake or ownership of a private enterprise that is handled by
their office

b. Cannot practice their profession unless allowed by the law which

should not conflict with their current functions and duties

c. Refer any person to a private enterprise to any position which has

pending or regular transactions with their office.

These restrictions continue for 1 year after leaving the public office (for

appointed public officers only, not employees).

3. Disclosure and/or misuse of confidential information: Self explanatory, If

it is confidential info, it is not to be disclosed.

4. Solicitation or acceptance of gifts: Officials and Employees cannot accept

gifts during working hours and if it involves their office. It is considered a form
of bribery.

Statements and Disclosure

If you are a public employee, just like officers, you have to submit SALN
also. The only difference is that your assets would be private to the public and
only to be inspected internally. Only the top public officials like Congress,
Executive Cabinets, Supreme Court and the like would be publicized, although
the media only discloses the total net worth, this is how we would know who is
the richest congressman.

Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth are used to identify

unexplained wealth and potential conflicts of interest, which can raise
eyebrows. These have been used in the Impeachment trials of Joseph Estrada
and Renato Corona, which is why congressmen have decided to restrict its
access. The courts will have to determine if those rules are constitutional or not.

Without further ado, here is Section 8 — Statements and Disclosure.

As specified in section 8, the public has the right to know the following under
oath.
Assets
Liabilities
Net worth
Financial and Business interests

They also have to include these 4 of their spouses and unmarried children 18
years of age in their SALNs

Those who are exempt from filing SALNs are:

Serving in a honorary capacity
Laborers
Casual or Temporary workers

Remember, SALNs and Financial Disclosure are 2 separate documents that a

public servant must file.

These 2 documents must contain:

Real property, its improvements, Acquisition Costs, Assessed value and Fair
Market Value. — Real property is your owned land plus house and any
structure that you cannot move, or whatever improvements made in that
land that can increase its value
Personal property and acquisition cost — Personal property is the things that
you own that you have bought with your own money or assets. You have
to file the acquisition cost, not current value whether it appreciates or
depreciates.
All other assets such as investments, cash on hand or in banks, stocks,
bonds, and the like; — Self explanatory
Liabilities — Your debts or obligations owed.
All business interests and financial connections — All Business activities
have to be disclosed
These documents must be filed:
Within 30 days of assumption of office on or before April 30 of every year
thereafter
Within 30 days from the separation of office
Husbands and Wives who are both public officials or employees may file jointly
or separately
SALNs and Financial Disclosure must be filed by these persons:
1. Constitutional and National elective officials, with the Office of the
Ombudsman
2. Senators and Congressmen
3. Secretaries of Senate and the House of Representatives
4. Justices
5. Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court
6. Judges
7. Court Administrator
8. National executive officials under the Office of the President
9. Regional and Local officials and employees, along with the regional deputy
ombudsman
10. Officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, with
the Office of the President, and those below said ranks, with the Deputy
Ombudsman in their respective regions.
11. All other public officials and employees, defined in Republic Act 3019
(ANTI-GRAFT AND CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT), as amended, with
the Civil Service Commission.

As stated in Article 11 Section 16 of the constitution, these are the officials that
would disclose their SALNs publicly
1) President
2) Vice President
3) Cabinet Members
4) Philippine Congress
5) Supreme court
6) Constitutional Commissions (CSC, COMELEC, COA)
7) Constitutional Offices
8) AFP officers with general or flag rank

Divestment

According to Section 9 of this Act. A public official or employee shall not have
conflicts of interest. If it arises, he should resign from his position within 30
days from assumption and 60 days for his shareholdings or interest.

Those who are exempted from this are the same as those exempted from filing
SALNs and Financial Disclosure.
Penalties

Any public official or employee, whether or not currently employed who

commits any violation of this act will be subjected to a fine not exceeding 6
months salary or suspension not exceeding 1 year or removal, depending on
the gravity of the offense after hearing. If the violation is punishable under
another law, if it has a heavier penalty, that would be charged and persecuted
under that law.

Violations of Sections 7, 8 and 9 (Prohibited acts and transactions, Statements

and Disclosures and Divestment respectively) are subjected
to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding 5000 pesos or
both, and by the discretion of the court, disqualified from holding public office.

Any violation proven in a proper administrative proceeding shall be sufficient

cause of removal, even though no criminal charges will be filed.

Private individuals who participate with these charges would be tried jointly
along with the public officer or employee, with the same penalties.

If any official or employee would bring a complaint to a person who violates the
prohibited acts regarding SALNs and Financial disclosures (Section 8D) will be
fined not more than 25000 pesos.

The Civil Service Commission will be the ones responsible for enacting this law,
while relevant committees in the Senate and House of Representatives will
review SALNs and Financial Disclosures to ensure compliance.