The Philippine National Police reminded its officers over the weekend that they may not accept gifts from the public, but said it would defer to the “better wisdom” of President Rodrigo Duterte, who earlier said it was all right to receive gifts as long as there was no corruption or abuse involved.
On Friday, the President told police he would not begrudge them for accepting gifts from generous citizens.
“I will not stop you. If you are given, take it. It is not bribery,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino during ceremonies marking the 118th anniversary of the country’s police service. “What I mean, if there’s generosity in them, according to the anti-graft law, you cannot accept gifts? Foolishness. If you’re able to solve a crime and the family would like to be generous to you or nurture a feeling of gratitude for what you accomplished, then you accept. I have nothing against that.”
Reacting to the President’s remarks Saturday, a spokesman for the PNP said they “always explain to the public that there is no need for them to give gifts” since they are just doing their job and are paid by the people through their salaries.
But Banac added: “We submit to the better wisdom of our lawyer-President that it is harmless to receive gifts so long as there is no element of corruption involved and no oppression or abuse of authority is committed.”
The law itself leaves some wriggle room.
The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act prohibits public officers from “directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, share, percentage, or benefit, for himself or for any other person, in connection with any contract or transaction between the government and any other party, wherein the public officer in his official capacity has to intervene under the law.”
But the same law allows “unsolicited gifts or presents of small or insignificant value offered or given as a mere ordinary token of gratitude or friendship according to local customs or usage.”
The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees also bars government officials and employees from soliciting or accepting, “directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.”
But the law again excludes “unsolicited gifts of nominal or insignificant value not given in anticipation of, or in exchange for, a favor from a public official or employee.”
The problem with these exceptions is that they are open to interpretation.
How are we to determine what constitutes a gift of “nominal or insignificant” value? Are we to trust the receiver of the gift to honestly make such an appraisal? What if the gift is not material in nature? What if it takes the form of a service or favor? Would that be considered allowable?
The Indian Minister of Railways and Commerce, Piyush Goyal, sums up the risk of such a situation succinctly.
“Corruption is the by-product of discretion when there is scope for interpretation of policies,” he says.
Unfortunately, that discretion is written into our laws—and we need “better wisdom” by way of specific rules to avoid its inevitable by-product.
