blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

In what appears to be a result of excesses of the past administration, some civil servants are up in arms about the revised Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN)  form which they are  required to submit to the Civil Service Commission. They believe it is an invasion of privacy as well as plain silly! Anyway, especially for the benefit of those not in the civil service, I am posting what a typical SALN form of a civil servant really looks like! Enjoy. Judge for yourself. As the Roman adage goes "The more corrupt the Republic the more are the forms..." ooops I meant the laws! STATEMENT OF ASSETS, LIABILITIES AND NET WORTH  AND DISCLOSURE OF BUSINESS INTERESTS, FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS AND RELATIVE/S IN THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE As of December 31, 2011 (Required by R.A. Nos. 3019 and 6713)                ( Note: Husband and Wife who are both public officials or employees may  ...

The word salary is taken from the name of the stuff that marine biologists, like this writer, taste every day, salt. Salarium, means the amount of money paid to a Roman soldier to buy salt. Salt in the Roman Empire was expensive since it was imported from Africa and in the age of no refrigerators, it was essential in preserving food. The nomadic herders of the Sahara had the monopoly and controlled the price. Thus the salarium really can't buy much salt. And thus began the ancient tradition of demanding salary increases. Now that we are on the topic, the Philippine Congress is considering a bill that will at least double the salaries of civil servants (yours truly included!). The rationale is that by increasing salaries, the government could attract talented and skilled people. You may accuse me of bias but I honestly believe that this is about time. The government service is the most important sector a citizen deals with everyday. As like anyone in service oriented jobs, civil ...