Accountability and Ethics in the Public Service

• Accountability is a concept which implies responsibility and obligation to answer or explain acts and performances to some person superior to or occupying a higher position in the hierarchy of an organization.
• Public Accountability - The obligation of public officers to exercise assigned or imputed authority and be responsible to a superior power
• Financial Accountability – it refers to the 3 F’s – funds, finance and fiduciary. It means that public officials are not owners of public funds but simply a steward or caretaker of such.
• Compliance Accountability - Public officials are adhered to follow the rules and regulations imposed in the performance of their duties and responsibilities, such as Civil Service Rules and Regulations, and the laws of the state, etc.
• Managerial accountability – it refers to the 3 E’s of management: Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness. Public officials are expected to use the resources of the state and manage it well with utmost degree of efficiency and effectiveness.
• Results Accountability – People are results oriented, hence, public officials are expected to deliver the “goods”  promised to  them, and should make people see that they are performing their job as elected leaders, by showing them concrete evidences of their work, such as projects made for the people and other
• Ethics – refers to the ways of applying value to achieve ends interpreted in terms of social good, applied public administration would view in the light of the interest of the many rather than that of the individual and the few.
• Republic Act 6713 - Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees to uphold the time honored principle of public office being a public trust.
• Commitment to public interest – Public officials and employees shall always uphold the public interest over and above personal interest.
• Professionalism – Public officials and employees shall perform and discharge their duties with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill.
• Justness and sincerity – Public officials and employees shall remain true to the people at all times.
• Political neutrality - Public officials and employees shall provide service to everyone without unfair discrimination and regardless of party affiliation or preference
• Responsiveness to the Public – Public officials and employees shall extend prompt, courteous, and adequate service to the public.
• Nationalism and Patriotism – public officials and employees shall at all times be loyal to the Republic and to the Filipino people.
• Commitment to democracy – Public officials and employees shall commit themselves to the democratic way of life and values, maintain the principle of the public accountability, and manifest by deeds the supremacy of civilian authority over the military.
• Simple living – Public officials and employees and their families shall lead modest lives.
• Article 11, Section 1 - it states that “ Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.
• Public Office – is the right, authority, and duty created and conferred by law.
• A public office is a public trust – It is not to be understood as a position of honor, prestige and power but a position of rendering service to the public.
• It is not a property – the holder of the office may not claim vested right in it which may not be disturbed by legislation.
• It is not a contract – one has no right to sue the government for the recovery of damages which he may suffer from his removal from office
• Anti-Plunder Law - They treat abuse of public office as an aggravating or qualifying circumstance, and impose accessory penalty of removal from office and disqualification and make three fold liability ( criminal, civil and administrative) for government officials.

   
• Impeachment - A method of national inquest into the conduct of public men. It has the nature of a criminal prosecution before a quasi-political court.

   
• The House of Representative shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.
• A vote of at least one third of all the members of the House shall be necessary to affirm the impeachment complaint filed in the said house before it will be submitted to the House of the Senate for trial.
• The Senate is known as the trier of impeachment case.
• No impeachment proceeding shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.
• When the President is on trial, the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court shall preside, but shall not vote.
• A two thirds vote of the senate is necessary to convict the person facing an impeachment case.
• The penalty for impeachment shall be limited only to removal and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines.
• Culpable Violation of the Constitution – It implies that the impeachable officer acted with full knowledge, malice and deliberate intent to violate the constitution. Not all violations of the constitution would constitute a ground for impeachment.
• Treason – It is a crime committed by any person who, owing allegiance to the Philippines, not being foreigner, levies war against to the Philippines or adheres to its enemies, giving them aid or comfort within the Philippines
• Direct bribery - is crime committed by any public officer who shall agree to perform an act constituting a crime, in connection with the performance of his official duties, in consideration of any offer, promise, gift or present received by such officer, personally orthrough medication.
• Indirect bribery - is crime committed by any public officer who shall accept a gift offered to him by reason of his office.
• Graft and corruption- Any acts or omission punishable under the anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law (RA NO. 3019)
• Other High Crimes- it must be construed to refer to those crimes, like treason and bribery which are serious and enormous in nature as to strike at the very life or orderly working of government. Violation of the anti-Plunder Law may be considered as an impeachable ground under the term
• Betrayal of Public Trust- Any act or omission, criminal or not, committed by an impeachable officer in his oath of office.
• OFFICIALS REMOVABLE BY IMPEACHMENT

  1. The President and the Vice President

  2. The members of the Supreme Court

  3. The members of the Constitutional Commissions

  4. The Ombudsman
• Office of the Ombudsman - was created by the 1987 Constitution primarily to investigate and prosecute any illegal act or omission of any public official even if the offense or crime committed is not related to the discharge of his official functions.
• It is composed of the Ombudsman to be known as Tanod bayan, one over all Deputy, and at least one deputy for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and the military. They are appointed by the President for a term of seven years without re-appointment, such appointment requires no confirmation.