The Department of Transportation (DOTr) ordered all of its officials to submit their Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALN) to the Department of Justice’s mega task force against corruption.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade DOTr officials would need to submit their SALN for three years.
“Sabi ko, ikumpara ‘yun at ipakita at sabihin sa akin kung meron silang nakikitang dapat bigyang pansin,” Tugade was quoted by the DOTr statement to have said during an online forum.
Since 2019, 128 DOTr employees were fired from service due to grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the service’s best interest, DOTr said. Twenty others were relieved, and 17 were suspended, the agency added.
DOTr also said that all biddings are live-streamed, and meetings with contractors have been prohibited during the bidding process to prevent bribery and undue influence.
President Rodrigo Duterte tasked the DOJ to lead the government’s task force against corruption.
DOJ identified five agencies to be prioritized in the corruption probe: PhilHealth, the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Land Registration Authority, and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
DOTr officials ordered to submit SALNs
Last week, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra revealed that many of the complaints received by the mega task force against corruption in the government involved the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The DOJ Secretary said the mega task force had received around 20 complaints as of November 16.
“But not all these pertain to transactions or projects worth at least P1 billion,” he said in a message to reporters.
The anti-corruption task force’s operations center filters and processes complaints as they come in.
Guevarra previously said the task force uses the P1 billion threshold as a “guideline” in prioritizing which government transactions or projects to look into.
“We will also investigate complaints about corrupt practices involving smaller amounts of money but with high impact on the delivery of government service to the people,” he said earlier this month.