DOTr directs officials to submit SALN to anti-corruption task force

MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Sunday that it directed all its officials to submit their wealth declaration to the Justice Department’s anti-corruption “task force”.

The order to file your Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Equity (SALN) for 3 years also includes everyone involved in project management and acquisitions, said Secretary of Transportation Arthur Tugade.

“I said, compare that and show it and tell me if you see anything you should pay attention to,” Tugade said according to the DOTr statement during an online forum.

(I told them to compare the SALNs and to show and tell if they see something that needs to be examined)

“We already had a meeting and we agreed to comply with the requirement requested by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, so that we can demonstrate that we are cooperating with the government in addressing and eradicating corruption.”

Since last year, 128 DOTr employees have been fired from service for gross misconduct and conduct detrimental to the best interest of the service, the agency said. Twenty others were relieved and 17 were suspended, he added.

All bids are broadcast live and meetings with contractors during the bidding process have been prohibited to avoid bribery and undue influence, the agency said.

The anti-corruption task force led by the Department of Justice previously identified 5 state agencies that it would likely prioritize investigating for alleged corruption following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte.

They were the state insurer PhilHealth, the Customs Office, the Office of Internal Revenue, the Land Registration Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

On Saturday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the task force has already received at least 60 complaints in the last 2 weeks.

Most of those reported were about supposedly “corrupt” transactions in government agencies, and some involved projects of millions of pesos, the secretary said.

The reports, according to Guevarra, referred to a “wide range” of government agencies, such as the regional or district offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Office of Corrections, DOTr, Office of Ground Transportation, Department of Health, PhilHealth, Authority Land Registry Office, Internal Revenue Office, Base Development and Conversion Authority, Customs Office, APO, “and many local government units.”