Republic Act 6713

 Philippine Civil Service Examination Review — Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards and Accountability of Public Officials and Employees.

One of the most important topics that you have to mainly review is 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. Another one is Article 11 of the Philippine Constitution, Accountability of Public Officers. It establishes the Independent office of the Ombudsman who can recommend a case to the Sandiganbayan, a specialized court who hears cases of graft and corruption in the government. It also contains Impeachment Procedures.

Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and Employees
Section 4 of this act contains the Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and Employees.

1.Commitment to the public interest

2.Professionalism

3.Justness and sincerity.

4.Political neutrality.

5.Responsiveness to the public.

6.Nationalism and patriotism.

7.Commitment to democracy.

8.Simple living.

Summarizing these norms, we get the following.

Commitment to the 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.

• Act promptly on letters and requests.
• Submit annual performance reports.
• Process documents and papers expeditiously.
• Act immediately on the public’s personal transactions.
• Make documents accessible to the public.

Summarizing these duties, we get the following

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 timeframe. 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.

The committee supervising this is the Committee on Awards to Outstanding Public Officials and Employees. They are composed of the following;

1. Ombudsman and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission as Co-Chairmen.
2. 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

Prohibited Acts and Transactions

Section 7 of the act contains the prohibited acts and transactions. Doing these acts are considered unlawful by the constitution.

Financial and material interest: Public officials and employees cannot have financial or material interest in their office, whether directly or indirectly

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).

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. But recent rules have been enacted by the House of Representatives that would require majority vote to disclose a particular congressman's SALN.

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.

1. Assets
2. Liabilities
3. Net worth
4. 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 an 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:

1. Within 30 days of assumption of office
2. on or before April 30 of every year thereafter
3. 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:

• Constitutional and National elective officials, with the Office of the Ombudsman
• Senators and Congressmen
• Secretaries of Senate and the House of Representatives
• Justices
• Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court
• Judges
• Court Administrator
• National executive officials under the Office of the President
• Regional and Local officials and employees, along with the regional deputy ombudsman
• 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.

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

• President
• Vice President
• Cabinet Members
• Philippine Congress
• Supreme court
• Constitutional Commissions (CSC, COMELEC, COA)
• Constitutional Offices
• AFP officers with general or flag rank

Identification and disclosure of relatives. — You must disclose your relatives in the government.

Accessibility of documents. — The documents mentioned should be made available for inspection at reasonable working hours.

They must be available for copying and reproduction after 10 working days from the time of filing

Any person requesting a copy of a statement shall be required to pay a reasonable fee to cover the cost of reproduction and mailing of such statement, as well as the cost of certification.

SALNs and Financial Disclosures have a retention rate of 10 years, after that, they can be destroyed unless needed in an ongoing investigation.

These documents cannot be used for any purpose contrary to morals or public policy, or for commercial purposes other by media for purpose of dissemination

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.

That's the relevant information that you need to know about RA 6713. Another important topic is Article 11 of the Philippine Constitution

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.

Ombudsman

If the Solicitor General is the legal counsel of the government and represents the government from any charges filed to it. The Ombudsman would be the one to investigate and prosecute government officials accused of crimes. Along with the deputies, they are the protectors of the people.

Known as Tanodbayan in Filipino, the Ombudsman is responsible for keeping government officials accountable. It is an independent office.

The Office of the Ombudsman is created by the Constitution. Article 11 Section 5.

It is composed of the Ombudsman, Deputy Ombudsman, each deputy for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and for the Military and Police.

Other Rules

The state has the right to recover properties which are acquired unlawfully and cannot be barred by prescription, latches, or estoppel.

Public officers and employees are required to uphold the constitution and pledge allegiance to the country. Seeking citizenship to another country while in tenure is punishable by law

That’s it for RA 6713 and Article 11 of the Philippine Constitution. Very lengthy but required to memorize all of this.

Reference: https://medium.com/@KaloX/philippine-civil-service-examination-review-code-of-conduct-and-ethical-standards-and-ad556ccef30d