DOJ Opinion No. 056, s. 1980

DOJ OPINION NO. 056 , s. 1980 April 21, 1980 Mr. Juanario C. Flores Assistant City Fiscal Davao City Sir : This is with reference to your request for the issuance by this Ministry of an order directing "the Provincial Fiscal of Cebu or his duly authorized representative to produce before our [your] office the statement of assets and liabilities of Mrs. Conception Branzuela". LLpr The within papers disclose that in the course of your investigation of Criminal Case Nos. CFO-248 and 249 for violations of Presidential Decree No. 603 and Republic Act No. 4136, as amended, you found the production of the above said document necessary for resolving an important issue involved in said cases, that consequently, you issued a subpoena duces tecum ordering the provincial Fiscal of Cebu or his duly authorized representative "to produce and bring to this [your] Office" the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for 1978 and 1979 of Mrs. Concepcion Branzuela, an employee of said fiscal's office; and that the Cebu provincial fiscal replied that while he wished "to cooperate with you in the investigation of criminal cases" he was not complying with subject subpoena on the ground that the production of the subject document is prohibited under Section 8(b) of Presidential Decree No. 379, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 417. You now contend that the course of action taken by the Cebu fiscal in declining to comply with the subpoena is incorrect, P.D. No. 379 not being applicable to this case because Mrs. Branzuela is a government employee; and that the applicable law is Section 7 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. No. 3019, as amended). We concur with your view and therefore we find no legal impediment to the production of the statement of assets and liabilities of Mrs. Branzuela. While it is true that the divulgence of information relating to the assets and liabilities of an individual "by any officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue or any government entity" is banned under Section 8(b) of P.D. No. 379, an amended, said legal provision applies only to private persons with assets worth P50,000 or more . (Sec. 1, P.D. No. 379, as amended) The financial statement of a public officer is governed by Section 7 of R.A. No. 3019, as amended by P.D. No. 1288 which reads: "Sec. 7. Statement of Assets and Liabilities . Every public officer, within thirty days after assuming office and thereafter, on or before the fifteenth day of April following the close of every calendar year, as well as upon the expiration of his term of office, or upon his resignation or separation from office, shall prepare and file with the Office of the corresponding Department Head, or in the case of a Head of Department or Chief of an independent office, with the Office of the President, a true, detailed and sworn statement of assets and liabilities, including a statement of the amounts and sources of his income, the amounts of his personal and family expenses and the amount of income taxes paid for the next preceding calendar year; Provided . That public officers assuming office less than two months before the end of the calendar year, may file their first statement on or before the fifteenth day of April following the close of the said calendar year." Nowhere in the foregoing provision of law or in any other provision of R. A. 3019, for that matter, is there any prohibition against the disclosure of information regarding the assets and liabilities of public officers. On the contrary, P.D. No. 677, by virtue of which the above quoted section was amended, states in its 2nd "whereas" clause, that "the life of a public officer is an open book and subject to scrutiny". The foregoing notwithstanding, we do not find it necessary to issue the order, as you request. As we see it, the only reason for the provincial fiscal's refusal to produce the document in question is his belief that it would be unlawful to do so. Thus, we foresee that the moment he is made aware of the absence of any legal obstacle to such production, he would willingly comply with the subpoena since, as he assured you, he is "ready to cooperate with you in any manner consonant with law". prLL Very truly yours, (SGD.) RICARDO C. PUNO Minister of Justice