IN the ongoing flood control investigations, the search for truth and justice no longer hinges solely on confessions or whistleblower testimonies to investigating government agencies. The key to unraveling the complex web of corruption lies in lifestyle checks relying on accessing evidence, both physical and digital footprints. This involves the process of gathering and assessing data that is abundant, precise, and verifiable.
The lifestyle check should be directed against the various perpetrators, including their families, infamously now known as ‘neo babies.’ These perpetrators cover a broad range of individuals, including private contractors, Department of Public Works and Highways officials, members of Congress, both senators and congressmen, and conniving people from other government agencies.
The lifestyle check is a process of comparing a person’s declared lawful income against his apparent wealth. Data from declared income can be accessed from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). I speculate that several of the perpetrators may not even be registered as taxpayers with the BIR, or have minimal declarations in their tax returns. That should be a factor that the BIR can pursue to their advantage when the examiners start conducting lifestyle checks as part of their tax investigation of the flood control criminals.
Another reference source for lifestyle checks against erring government officials is their Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). The Civil Service Commission and Ombudsman are among several government officers tasked to collect the SALNs of all government officials and employees. I have observed that a large number of government officials have been reckless in preparing their SALNs, with them not reconciling their increase in net worth to the amount of income declared in their tax returns. This unexplained increase in net worth can result in various outcomes, including BIR tax assessments and forfeiture of assets under Republic Act No. 1379, or the Forfeiture Law. Under this law, the government can petition the courts to seize properties unlawfully acquired by public officials whose assets are grossly disproportionate to their lawful income.
The indicators of their wealth and lifestyle can be accessed from or provided by various government agencies. To derive the true and full wealth of lifestyle check targets, the search for these asset-holdings should include those properties registered in the names of the targets as well as those listed in the names of persons they have designated to hide under their names the ownership of properties that the targets own. These include immediate relatives, conduits, dummies, fronts, and beneficial owners of corporations of the targets.
I now discuss the various Lifestyle Check Data Sources. If the recipe for conducting the lifestyle investigation is coordinated among these various government data sources, then the investigations can proceed swiftly and decisively, eliminating overlaps and delays among agencies and transforming fragmented data into actionable intelligence for prosecution and recovery.
The Land Transportation Office provides records of vehicles, often the first indicator of unexplained wealth-fleets of Sports Utility Vehicles and luxury cars registered under names of contractors, government officials, or their family members. The public works contractors Discayas alone have around 30 luxury vehicles that the Bureau of Customs has seized.
The Land Registration Authority (LRA) provides the registry of real property ownership-houses, lots, and condominiums that paint a clearer picture of a public servant’s or contractor’s true wealth. The LRA has long computerized the real property records and can be relied upon for digitally retrieving ownership information of the flood control offenders and their cohorts.
The Securities and Exchange Commission offers another window into the flood control corruption through its beneficial ownership registry. Many contractors implicated in the flood control irregularities are not listed shareholders but hidden beneficial owners of multiple interrelated companies. Cross-referencing corporate filings and financial statements can uncover these connections, showing how public officials or their relatives may secretly control or profit from entities awarded government contracts.
The list continues with my discussion next week.