Investigation and Verifications of Character and Moral Qualifications

June 7, 1967 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 49-67 TO : All Internal Revenue Officials and Employees and Others Concerned SUBJECT : Investigation and Verifications of Character and Moral Qualifications To carry out a continuous improvement in the image of this Bureau through its present personnel and through recruiting new officers and employees who shall be loyal and shall give honor to the revenue service, there are hereby promulgated instructions and guides in investigations and verifications of moral qualifications and character background of officers, employees and applicants for recruitment in the Bureau of Internal Revenue, to wit: cd 1. Performance of duties of investigators Investigators are required to perform their duties with the sole aim of ascertaining the facts with respect to any investigation made. In all of their investigations, investigators will proceed without bias or prejudice and should conduct a fearless and searching examination without allowing themselves to be influenced by local feeling or sympathy. They should not give undue weight to the judgment of friends or personal enemies of the person under investigation. The investigator should efface his personality from all investigations and reports and strive to present a record of facts as evidenced by the testimony of the persons interviewed and the documents examined. Investigators have no supervisory authority over other officers in the internal revenue service and they are not to interfere with any officer or employee who is in the proper discharge of his duty. The authority of the Special Investigator in this respect tends only to examination of the methods or systems used by officers who may be under investigation. Special Investigators will not presume to direct the procedures or the conduct in any of the offices which they may visit nor shall they give any instructions as to any administrative matters in connection therewith. However, if irregularities are noticed by the Special Investigator he should make a proper report of the same and forward it through the regular channels. In addition to the assignments given him, the Special Investigator should be on the alert for information or facts which may be the basis for an investigation. Such information is found frequently in the news item of daily papers, or it may be in the nature of a casual remark or overheard conversation. All such information should be promptly transmitted to his immediate superiors. 2. Deportment A Special Investigator must remember at all times that his official position requires him to maintain a courteous bearing. When discharging his duties, he should endeavour to avoid unnecessary injuring or endangering the reputations of persons or concerns under investigation. He is expected to give due regard to his personal appearance; he should be neatly but not conspicuously dressed, and unless the character of the investigation makes it necessary to seek seclusion, he should stay at a hotel in keeping with the dignity of his position. His moral conduct should be of the highest character and he should avoid doing anything which might reflect in any way upon his reputation. The fact that he is a public officer makes his personal conduct a public matter and subjects it to a closer scrutiny than if he were a private individual. In this connection, he should remember that he has in his keeping, not only his own personal reputation, but also the reputation of his unit of organization. An officer who, by his personal conduct, brings himself into disrepute, is bringing the service into disrepute. Such conduct impairs his efficiency as an officer and imperils the reputation of the Bureau. 3. Relation with other officers Special Investigators should cultivate and maintain cordial relations with officers of other branches of the Government. Every Special Investigator is expected to support loyally the policies of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Finance and refrain from any public criticism regarding it or any other department of the Government, their officers, or methods. Criticisms and suggestions relating to such matters should be made in the form of a regular report and addressed to the division chief in charge. The policies of the Bureau may vary with different administrations, but each officer and employee should be prepared to support them whether they are in accord with his personal views or not. This, however, does not prevent him from presenting his views through the channels indicated above, and, when so presented they will receive due consideration. The results of investigations by special investigators should not be discussed to any officials other than those entitled to receive the reports in the regular routine of the Bureau. The Department may be embarrassed if the results of an investigation become known to other officials before the officers properly entitled to receive the information have received the facts. 4. Discussion of official business A special investigator should not discuss matters relating to an official investigation with anyone except his superior or more experienced special investigator or other agents engaged with him upon the investigation. Prudence will dictate, and it is most particularly enjoined, that officers keep their own counsel, indulge in no garrulity and communicate the matter which they are investigating or the facts which they learn to none but the officials properly entitled to receive the information. They should particularly refrain from discussing official matters in public or within the hearing of the public. A special investigator must not give to the press or public any information concerning official matters. He should avoid newspaper publicity and self-advertising and he should not appear in the press either in print or by photograph. 5. Confidential sources of information It is the duty of every citizen to communicate to his Government any information which he has of an offense against its laws. To encourage him in performing this duty, the law holds such information to be confidential and leaves to the absolute discretion of the Government the question of how far and under what circumstances the names of the informers or the channel of the communication shall be suffered to be known. Courts of Justice, therefore, will not compel or allow the discovery of such information. Such evidence is excluded by the Courts, not for the protection of the witness or for the party in the particular case but upon general grounds of public policy. If a special investigator who has promised an informant that he would keep his identity confidential is asked to disclose such identity on the witness stand and no objection to the question is made or sustained, he should not refuse to answer, but should state that he can not disclose the information on the grounds that it was a privileged communication given in confidence to an officer of the Government. 6. Itinerary reports Before a special investigator leaves his post of duty he will execute a daily report on Form No. ___ showing his proposed itineraries and the work upon which he will be engaged, and hand it or mail it to his chief of division. While he is on travel status, the special investigator will submit such reports as often as necessary to keep his chief of division informed regarding his addresses, itineraries, etc. A special investigator on temporary detail will also keep his chief's office informed as to his address and tell how communication with him can be accomplished. 7. Other reports The Special Investigator to whom a case is assigned is responsible for the rendition of a full and complete report of the investigation in conformity with the form and outlines which are furnished elsewhere in this paper. He is also responsible for all other reports which are required in connection with the case. A special investigator will not retain personal possession of copies of reports of investigation made by him or any other reports or papers coming into his possession in connection with his official duties. This is not to be interpreted as forbidding an agent from keeping reports in pending cases at his home when he does not have an office. A. GENERAL PROCEDURE (a) Fairness A special investigator should be impartial and thorough in all investigations conducted by him. He must not be influenced by political, racial, or religious prejudices. He should avoid a mental attitude of attempting to "get" persons who are under investigation. His duty is to ascertain all the pertinent facts in its case, regardless of the conclusions that may later be formed from consideration of them. He must so conduct himself as to make it apparent to all persons interested in the case that his investigation is unbiased. (b) Discretion A special investigator must avoid any remark or acts, during an investigation, that are likely to be misinterpreted. He must not make statements or ask questions which will divulge information that may jeopardize the successful conclusion of the investigation or unnecessarily injure the reputation of the person under investigation. Every situation which may cause him to become obligated to the person under investigation must be tactfully avoided. Each decision should be reached upon a basis of facts and not upon rumor, suspicion, or guesswork. A special investigator is not clothe with authority to violate the law, and in making investigations he should operate strictly within the law, the regulations and rules of the Bureau. Conformity with the foregoing instruction will require thoughtful deliberations before taking actions. (c) General methods of investigation Each special investigator should be familiar with the general methods used in making criminal investigations. These methods will apply to the majority of investigations conducted by a special investigator. He should have a good working knowledge of the following subjects: securing and preparing statements of persons, securing and preserving physical evidence, use of experts, documentary evidence, handwriting and typewriting comparison, use of camera and photostat machines, codes and keys, description of persons, modus operandi, supervision of communication, evidence, conspiracy, testifying in courts, and other matters. These subjects are taught in enforcement training schools and it is not feasible within the confines of this paper to discuss each fully. However, information is set forth elsewhere herein concerning those of major importance and which are used frequently in investigation made by special investigators. Special methods peculiar to special investigation that may be assigned to special investigators are setforth in other BIR Manuals. B. CHARACTER AND MORAL QUALIFICATIONS (a) Personnel in general Personnel shall undergo a thorough character investigation. Those who are serving probationary period of six (6) months following their original appointments may be dropped from the service for unsatisfactory conduct or want of capacity any time before the expiration of the probationary period. (Art. 6, 24, Rep. Act 2260) cdt (b) Personnel in the service All such persons with permanent appointment may be under probationary status or with permanent status as civil service servants. Those under probation shall be observed and their conduct reported by their immediate supervisors to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, through channels and the personnel concerned shall become permanent or be dropped from the rolls by reason of their conduct. Good character of those who have acquired permanent status in the service shall be deemed except when any administrative case or charge exists against such personnel. (c) Investigation Character and moral qualifications investigations shall be conducted in cases of recruitment or transfer of the proposed appointee. In such cases facts shall be investigated or verified from sources other than the proposed appointee. The persons cited as references by the appointee, if possible, should be interviewed about the character of the subject and the investigator shall report his findings of facts. Unless it is necessary and unavoidable, the Special Investigator should not make direct contact with the subject. Character and moral qualifications investigation of personnel due to promotion shall be the verification and certification of clearance from the records of administrative cases, if any, against the personnel concerned. However, if the personnel nominated for promotion is the subject of character investigation for purposes of administrative discipline, such administrative investigation shall be in accordance with the Memorandum Circular No. 11, s. 1964 of the Civil Service Commission and shall not delay the investigation for purposes of promotion. This Order revokes Revenue Memorandum Order No. 63-63, dated December 19, 1963. aisadc This Order takes effect immediately. MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue June 7, 1967 MEMORANDUM FOR: The Commissioner Respectfully presented herewith is a proposed Revenue Memorandum Order on the subject of character investigation. The proposed Order is aimed to carry out a continuous improvement in the image of the Bureau through its present personnel and through recruitment of persons who shall be loyal and shall give honor to the revenue service. It explains the right conduct of investigators in the performance of duties, deportment, relations with other officers and handling of official business and confidential information, itinerary reports, and other reports. It also describes general procedures of an investigation about fairness, discretion, and general methods of investigation and finally the discretion of investigations on character and moral qualifications. This proposed Memorandum Order has for evidentiary basis an anonymous letter by BIR employees addressed to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, copy of which was furnished this Office. The matter was referred for comment to the Division concerned. The subject of the letter was the character investigation being conducted to the chagrin of personnel already in the service and of proposed appointees in recruitment. The latter, however, are not vocal about the matter although it has come to the attention of this Office that they also would complain, if they do not run the risk of reprisal which can be very detrimental to their case. However, the vocalized as well as the silent protests register the necessity of remedial measures. Accordingly, the proposed Memorandum Order is hereby respectfully submitted for the pleasure of that Office. Respectfully submitted, POLICRONIO BLANCO Revenue Operations Head (Internal Audit Services)