Political and Administrative Accountability

• Accountability - It refers to the institution of checks and balances in an organization through which an administrator accounts for his/her stewardship of resources or authority.
• Accountability is a synonym for responsibility
• Political-administrative continuum - It implies that elected officials are politically accountable to the electorate or their constituencies who voted them to their positions.
• Conflict of interest – arises when a public official or employee is a member of a board, an officer, or a substantial stockholder of a private corporation, owner, or one who has a substantial interest in a business, and the interest of such corporation or business may be or business may be opposed to or affected by the faithful performance of official duty.
• Corruption - of public officials is the crime committed by the private person who shall have made the offers or promises or given the gifts or presents to the public officers.
• Public officer - any person who, by direct provision of law, popular election or appointment by competent authority, shall take part in the performance of public functions in the government of the Philippine Islands, or shall perform in said government or in any of its branches public duties as an employee, agent or subordinate official, of any rank or class. (as defined by the Revised Penal Code)
• Public officer - including elective and appointive officials and employees, permanent or temporary, whether in the classified or unclassified or exempt service receiving compensation, even nominal, from the government as defined in the preceding subparagraph.(Republic Act 3019)
• Public officers - including elective and appointive officials and employees, permanent or temporary, whether in the career or non-career service, including military and police personnel, whether or not they receive compensation, regardless of amount. (Republic Act 6713)
• Individual Accountability – public employees are answerable for the responsible, efficient and effective performance of their tasks
• Accountability of Administrators - for their stewardship of the administrative authority; resources and information placed at their disposal as leaders of public organization.

  Supervisor or the head of office is accountable for the stewardship of resources.
• Political Accountability - of institutions that must answer for their organizational mandate and functions, particularly as they form part of the incumbent government strategy for national development. (Departments or agencies must answer to the people as to how they carried out their mandates)
• Accountability of National Leaders – must answer for the performance in pursuing the programs of government and their use of national resources, given, the authority, power and resources vested in them by their constituency. (Elected officials must account to the people who elected them)
• Types of Corruption in the Philippines

  1. Tax evasion
  2. Ghost projects & payrolls
  3. Evasion of public bidding in awarding of contracts
  4. Passing of contracts
  5. Nepotism & favouritism
  6. Extortion
  7. Protection Money
  8. Bribery
• Republic Act No. 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) is the main anti-corruption law.
• The 1987 Philippine Constitution Article XI Section 1 “Accountability of Public Officers”,
• The office of the Ombudsman - investigates and act on complaints filed against public officials and employees, and serve as the “people’s watchdog” of the government.
• The Sandiganbayan - is the Anti-graft court of the Philippines. It has jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases involving graft & corruption and such other offenses committed by public officers and employees. It is in charge of maintaining morality, integrity, and efficiency in the public service.
• The Commission on Audit - is the watchdog of the financial operations of the government.
• The Civil Service Commission - is the central personnel agency of the government which is mandated to establish a career service and promote moral, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service.
• Executive Order No. 292 of the Administrative Code of 1987 - this order reiterates the provisions embodies in Section 1, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution. It also gives the President the power to institute proceedings to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials and employees.
• Republic Act No. 6770 also known as the Ombudsman Act of 1989 -provides the functional and structural organization of the Office of the Ombudsman.
• Republic Act No. 7055 also known as An Act Strengthening Civilian Supremacy over the Military - This law creates two avenues for trying erring members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines & other members subject to military laws.
• Republic Act No. 7080 - an Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder penalizes a public officer or in connivance with members of his family, relatives, by affinity or consanguinity, business associates acquire ill-gotten wealth in the total of at least fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00) through overt or criminal acts.
• Republic Act No. 8249 - also known as the Act Further Defining the Jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan. This classifies the _ as a special court and places it at par with the Court of Appeals.
• Presidential Decree No. 46 -declares it unlawful for government officials to receive gifts and for private persons to give gifts on any occasion including Christmas, regardless of whether the gift is for past or future favors.

  It also prohibits entertaining public officials and their relatives. Included within the prohibition is the throwing of parties or entertainment in honor of the public official or employee, or of his immediate relatives.
• Presidential Decree No. 677 requires the submission of (SALN) Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth every year.
• Presidential Decree No. 749 grants immunity from prosecution to givers of bribes and other gifts and to their accomplices in bribery charges if they testify against the public officials or private persons guilty of those offences.
• Graft is a specific type of corruption whereby an official uses his public stature or authority to gain illegal benefit.  
• The word corruption typically is used to describe the unscrupulous acts of politicians and government officials.
• Articles 210 to 212 of the Revised Penal Code penalizes bribery
• Qualified bribery is committed by a public officer entrusted with law enforcement, who refrains from arresting or prosecuting an offender who has committed a crime punishable by reclusion perpetua (imprisonment of 20 years to 40 years) and/or death, in consideration of any offer, promise, gift or present.