1

Code of Conduct
Reporters:
JOSE VERGEL A. CELONES
DIANA ROSE A. CELONES
 Republic Act No. 6713 February 20,
1989
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CODE OF
CONDUCT AND ETHICAL STANDARDS
FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND
EMPLOYEES, TO UPHOLD THE TIME-
HONORED PRINCIPLE OF PUBLIC
OFFICE BEING A PUBLIC TRUST,
GRANTING INCENTIVES AND REWARDS
FOR EXEMPLARY SERVICE,
ENUMERATING PROHIBITED ACTS AND
TRANSACTIONS AND PROVIDING
Section 1.
 Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Code of
Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials
and Employees."
Section 2.
 Declaration of Policies. - It is the policy of the
State to promote a high standard of ethics in
public service. Public officials and employees
shall at all times be accountable to the people and
shall discharge their duties with utmost
responsibility, integrity, competence, and loyalty,
act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives,
and uphold public interest over personal interest.
Section 3. 
Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the
term:
(a) "Government" includes the National
Government, the local governments, and all other
instrumentalities, agencies or branches of the
Republic of the Philippines including government-
owned or controlled corporations, and their
subsidiaries.
 
(b) "Public Officials" includes elective and
appointive officials and employees, permanent or
temporary, whether in the career or non-career
service, including military and police personnel,
whether or not they receive compensation,
regardless of amount.
 
(c) "Gift" refers to a thing or a right to dispose of
gratuitously, or any act or liberality, in favor of
another who accepts it, and shall include a
simulated sale or an ostensibly onerous disposition
thereof. It shall not include an unsolicited gift of
nominal or insignificant value not given in
anticipation of, or in exchange for, a favor from a
public official or employee.
 
(d) "Receiving any gift" includes the act of
accepting directly or indirectly, a gift from a
person other than a member of his family or
relative as defined in this Act, even on the
occasion of a family celebration or national
festivity like Christmas, if the value of the gift is
neither nominal nor insignificant, or the gift is
given in anticipation of, or in exchange for, a
favor.
 
(e) "Loan" covers both simple loan and
commodatum as well as guarantees, financing
arrangements or accommodations intended to
ensure its approval.
 
(f) "Substantial stockholder" means any person
who owns, directly or indirectly, shares of stock
sufficient to elect a director of a corporation. This
term shall also apply to the parties to a voting
trust.
 
(g) "Family of public officials or employees"
means their spouses and unmarried children under
eighteen (18) years of age.
(h) "Person" includes natural and juridical persons
unless the context indicates otherwise.
 
(i) "Conflict of interest" arises when a public
official or employee is a member of a board, an
officer, or a substantial stockholder of a private
corporation or owner or has a substantial interest
in a business, and the interest of such corporation
or business, or his rights or duties therein, may be
opposed to or affected by the faithful performance
of official duty.
 
(j) "Divestment" is the transfer of title or disposal
of interest in property by voluntarily, completely
and actually depriving or dispossessing oneself of
his right or title to it in favor of a person or
persons other than his spouse and relatives as
defined in this Act.
 
(k) "Relatives" refers to any and all persons
related to a public official or employee within the
fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity,
including bilas, inso and balae.
Section 4.
 Norms of Conduct of Public Officials and
Employees. - (A) Every public official and
employee shall observe the following as standards
of personal conduct in the discharge and execution
of official duties:
a. Commitment to public interest
b. Professionalism
c. Justness and sincerity
d. Political neutrality.
e. Responsiveness to the public
f. Nationalism and patriotism
g. Commitment to democracy
h. Simple living
  (B) The Civil Service Commission shall adopt positive measures
to promote (1) observance of these standards including the
dissemination of information programs and workshops authorizing
merit increases beyond regular progression steps, to a limited
number of employees recognized by their office colleagues to be
outstanding in their observance of ethical standards; and (2)
continuing research and experimentation on measures which
provide positive motivation to public officials and employees in
raising the general level of observance of these standards.
 Section 5.
Duties of Public Officials and Employees. - In the performance of
their duties, all public officials and employees are under obligation
to:
(a) Act promptly on letters and requests. - All public officials and
employees shall, within fifteen (15) working days from receipt
thereof, respond to letters, telegrams or other means of
communications sent by the public. The reply must contain the
action taken on the request.
(b) Submit annual performance reports. - All heads or other
responsible officers of offices and agencies of the government and
of government-owned or controlled corporations shall, within
forty-five (45) working days from the end of the year, render a
performance report of the agency or office or corporation
concerned. Such report shall be open and available to the public
within regular office hours.
(c) Process documents and papers expeditiously. - All official
papers and documents must be processed and completed within a
reasonable time from the preparation thereof and must contain, as
far as practicable, not more than three (3) signatories therein. In the
absence of duly authorized signatories, the official next-in-rank or
officer in charge shall sign for and in their behalf.
(d) Act immediately on the public's personal transactions. - All
public officials and employees must attend to anyone who wants to
avail himself of the services of their offices and must, at all times,
act promptly and expeditiously.
(e) Make documents accessible to the public. - All public
documents must be made accessible to, and readily available for
inspection by, the public within reasonable working hours.
 Section 6
System of Incentives and Rewards. - A system of annual incentives
and rewards is hereby established in order to motivate and inspire
public servants to uphold the highest standards of ethics. For this
purpose, a Committee on Awards to Outstanding Public Officials
and Employees is hereby created composed of the following: the
Ombudsman and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission as
Co-Chairmen, and the Chairman of the Commission on Audit, and
two government employees to be appointed by the President, as
members.
It shall be the task of this Committee to conduct a periodic,
continuing review of the performance of public officials and
employees, in all the branches and agencies of Government and
establish a system of annual incentives and rewards to the end that
due recognition is given to public officials and employees of
outstanding merit on the basis of the standards set forth in this Act.
The conferment of awards shall take into account, among other
things, the following: the years of service and the quality and
consistency of performance, the obscurity of the position, the level
of salary, the unique and exemplary quality of a certain
achievement, and the risks or temptations inherent in the work.
Incentives and rewards to government officials and employees of
the year to be announced in public ceremonies honoring them may
take the form of bonuses, citations, directorships in government-
owned or controlled corporations, local and foreign scholarship
grants, paid vacations and the like.
They shall likewise be automatically promoted to the next higher
position with the commensurate salary suitable to their
qualifications. In case there is no next higher position or it is not
vacant, said position shall be included in the budget of the office in
the next General Appropriations Act. The Committee on Awards
shall adopt its own rules to govern the conduct of its activities.
 Section 7
Prohibited Acts and Transactions. - In addition to acts and
omissions of public officials and employees now prescribed in the
Constitution and existing laws, the following shall constitute
prohibited acts and transactions of any public official and employee
and are hereby declared to be unlawful:
 (a) Financial and material interest. - Public officials and employees
shall not, directly or indirectly, have any financial or material
interest in any transaction requiring the approval of their office.
(b) Outside employment and other activities related thereto. -
Public officials and employees during their incumbency shall not:

(1) Own, control, manage or accept employment as officer,

employee, consultant, counsel, broker, agent, trustee or nominee
in any private enterprise regulated, supervised or licensed by
their office unless expressly allowed by law;
 (2) Engage in the private practice of their profession unless
authorized by the Constitution or law, provided, that such
practice will not conflict or tend to conflict with their official
functions; or
 (3) Recommend any person to any position in a private
enterprise which has a regular or pending official transaction
with their office.
 These prohibitions shall continue to apply for a period of one (1)
year after resignation, retirement, or separation from public office,
except in the case of subparagraph (b) (2) above, but the
professional concerned cannot practice his profession in connection
with any matter before the office he used to be with, in which case
the one-year prohibition shall likewise apply.
 (c) Disclosure and/or misuse of confidential information. - Public
officials and employees shall not use or divulge, confidential or
classified information officially known to them by reason of their
office and not made available to the public, either:
(1) To further their private interests, or give undue advantage to
anyone; or
(2) To prejudice the public interest.
(d) Solicitation or acceptance of gifts. - Public officials and
employees shall not solicit or accept, 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.
As to gifts or grants from foreign governments, the Congress
consents to:
(i) The acceptance and retention by a public official or employee of
a gift of nominal value tendered and received as a souvenir or mark
of courtesy;
(ii) The acceptance by a public official or employee of a gift in the
nature of a scholarship or fellowship grant or medical treatment; or
(iii) The acceptance by a public official or employee of travel
grants or expenses for travel taking place entirely outside the
Philippine (such as allowances, transportation, food, and lodging)
of more than nominal value if such acceptance is appropriate or
consistent with the interests of the Philippines, and permitted by the
head of office, branch or agency to which he belongs.
The Ombudsman shall prescribe such regulations as may be
necessary to carry out the purpose of this subsection, including
pertinent reporting and disclosure requirements.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict or prohibit any
educational, scientific or cultural exchange programs subject to
national security requirements.
Section 8

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 Section 8
Section 8. Statements and Disclosure. - Public officials and
employees have an obligation to accomplish and submit
declarations under oath of, and the public has the right to know,
their assets, liabilities, net worth and financial and business
interests including those of their spouses and of unmarried children
under eighteen (18) years of age living in their households.
(A) Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Financial Disclosure. -
All public officials and employees, except those who serve in an
honorary capacity, laborers and casual or temporary workers, shall
file under oath their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth
and a Disclosure of Business Interests and Financial Connections
and those of their spouses and unmarried children under eighteen
(18) years of age living in their households.
The two documents shall contain information on the following:
(a) real property, its improvements, acquisition costs, assessed
value and current fair market value;
(b) personal property and acquisition cost;
(c) all other assets such as investments, cash on hand or in banks,
stocks, bonds, and the like;
(d) liabilities, and;
(e) all business interests and financial connections.
The documents must be filed:
(a) within thirty (30) days after assumption of office;
(b) on or before April 30, of every year thereafter; and
(c) within thirty (30) days after separation from the service
All public officials and employees required under this section to
file the aforestated documents shall also execute, within thirty (30)
days from the date of their assumption of office, the necessary
authority in favor of the Ombudsman to obtain from all appropriate
government agencies, including the Bureau of Internal Revenue,
such documents as may show their assets, liabilities, net worth, and
also their business interests and financial connections in previous
years, including, if possible, the year when they first assumed any
office in the Government.
Husband and wife who are both public officials or employees may
file the required statements jointly or separately
The Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and the
Disclosure of Business Interests and Financial Connections shall be
filed by:
(1) Constitutional and national elective officials, with the national
office of the Ombudsman;
(2) Senators and Congressmen, with the Secretaries of the Senate
and the House of Representatives, respectively; Justices, with the
Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court; Judges, with the Court
Administrator; and all national executive officials with the Office
of the President.
 Section 8
(3) Regional and local officials and employees, with the Deputy
Ombudsman in their respective regions;
(4) Officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval
captain, with the Office of the President, and those below said
ranks, with the Deputy Ombudsman in their respective regions; and
(5) All other public officials and employees, defined in Republic
Act No. 3019, as amended, with the Civil Service Commission.
(B) Identification and disclosure of relatives. - It shall be the duty
of every public official or employee to identify and disclose, to the
best of his knowledge and information, his relatives in the
Government in the form, manner and frequency prescribed by the
Civil Service Commission.
(C) Accessibility of documents. –
(1) Any and all statements filed under this Act, shall be made
available for inspection at reasonable hours.
(2) Such statements shall be made available for copying or
reproduction after ten (10) working days from the time they are
filed as required by law.
(3) Any person requesting a copy of a statement shall be required to
pay a reasonable fee to cover the cost of reproduction and mailing
of such statement, as well as the cost of certification.
(4) Any statement filed under this Act shall be available to the
public for a period of ten (10) years after receipt of the statement.
After such period, the statement may be destroyed unless needed in
an ongoing investigation.
(D) Prohibited acts. - It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain
or use any statement filed under this Act for:
(a) any purpose contrary to morals or public policy; or
(b) any commercial purpose other than by news and
communications media for dissemination to the general public.
 Section 9
Divestment. - A public official or employee shall avoid conflicts of
interest at all times. When a conflict of interest arises, he shall
resign from his position in any private business enterprise within
thirty (30) days from his assumption of office and/or divest himself
of his shareholdings or interest within sixty (60) days from such
assumption.
The same rule shall apply where the public official or employee is
a partner in a partnership.
The requirement of divestment shall not apply to those who serve
the Government in an honorary capacity nor to laborers and casual
or temporary workers.
 Section 10
Review and Compliance Procedure. –
(a) The designated Committees of both Houses of the Congress
shall establish procedures for the review of statements to determine
whether said statements which have been submitted on time, are
complete, and are in proper form. In the event a determination is
made that a statement is not so filed, the appropriate Committee
shall so inform the reporting individual and direct him to take the
necessary corrective action.
(b) In order to carry out their responsibilities under this Act, the
designated Committees of both Houses of Congress shall have the
power within their respective jurisdictions, to render any opinion
interpreting this Act, in writing, to persons covered by this Act,
subject in each instance to the approval by affirmative vote of the
majority of the particular House concerned.
The individual to whom an opinion is rendered, and any other
individual involved in a similar factual situation, and who, after
issuance of the opinion acts in good faith in accordance with it
shall not be subject to any sanction provided in this Act.
(c) The heads of other offices shall perform the duties stated in
subsections (a) and (b) hereof insofar as their respective offices are
concerned, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Justice, in the
case of the Executive Department and the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, in the case of the Judicial Department.
Section 11
Penalties. –
(a) Any public official or employee, regardless of whether or not
he holds office or employment in a casual, temporary, holdover,
permanent or regular capacity, committing any violation of this Act
shall be punished with a fine not exceeding the equivalent of six (6)
months' salary or suspension not exceeding one (1) year, or
removal depending on the gravity of the offense after due notice
and hearing by the appropriate body or agency. If the violation is
punishable by a heavier penalty under another law, he shall be
prosecuted under the latter statute. Violations of Sections 7, 8 or 9
of this Act shall be punishable with imprisonment not exceeding
five (5) years, or a fine not exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000),
or both, and, in the discretion of the court of competent
jurisdiction, disqualification to hold public office.
(b) Any violation hereof proven in a proper administrative
proceeding shall be sufficient cause for removal or dismissal of a
public official or employee, even if no criminal prosecution is
instituted against him.
(c) Private individuals who participate in conspiracy as co-
principals, accomplices or accessories, with public officials or
employees, in violation of this Act, shall be subject to the same
penal liabilities as the public officials or employees and shall be
tried jointly with them.
(d) The official or employee concerned may bring an action against
any person who obtains or uses a report for any purpose prohibited
by
Section 8 (D) of this Act. The Court in which such action is
brought may assess against such person a penalty in any amount
not to exceed twenty-five thousand pesos (P25,000). If another
sanction hereunder or under any other law is heavier, the latter shall
apply.
Promulgation of Rules and Regulations, Administration and
Enforcement of this Act. - The Civil Service Commission shall
have the primary responsibility for the administration and
enforcement of this Act. It shall transmit all cases for prosecution
arising from violations of this Act to the proper authorities for
appropriate action: Provided, however, That it may institute such
administrative actions and disciplinary measures as may be
warranted in accordance with law.
The Civil Service Commission is hereby authorized to promulgate
rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this
Act, including guidelines for individuals who render free voluntary
service to the Government.
 Section 13
Provisions for More Stringent Standards. - Nothing in this Act shall
be construed to derogate from any law, or any regulation prescribed
by any body or agency, which provides for more stringent
standards for its official and employees
 Section 14
Section 14. Appropriations. - The sum necessary for the effective
implementation of this Act shall be taken from the appropriations
of the Civil Service Commission. Thereafter, such sum as may be
needed for its continued implementation shall be included in the
annual General Appropriations Act.
 Section 15
Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act or the application
of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid,
the remainder of the Act or the application of such provision to
other persons or circumstances shall not be affected by such
declaration.
 Section 16
Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees and orders or parts thereof
inconsistent herewith, are deemed repealed or modified
accordingly, unless the same provide for a heavier penalty.
 Section 17
Section 17. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after thirty (30)
days following the completion of its publication in the Official
Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
Approved, February 20, 1989.
Thank you
for