G.R. No. 201176 , August 28, 2019
ESTRELLA ABID-BABANO, Petitioner vs. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, Respondent

FACTS

Petitioner Estrella Abid-Babano, a Regional Director of the Department of Education, was administratively charged for failing to declare in her Sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) for the years 2000 to 2005 two motor vehicles (a 1997 Isuzu Hilander and a 1996 Honda Civic) registered under the name of her husband, Macmod S. Pangandaman. The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) found her guilty of simple neglect of duty for violating Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6713 , recommending a suspension of six months and one day to one year. The Office of the President upheld this finding but imposed a six-month suspension. The Court of Appeals affirmed the Office of the President’s decision. Petitioner argued that she was not obligated to include her husband’s properties in her SALN because: (1) both she and her husband are Muslims whose property regime under Presidential Decree No. 1083 (Code of Muslim Personal Laws) is one of complete separation of property; (2) her husband did not live in her household but with his first wife; and (3) her husband, also a government employee, filed his own SALN.

ISSUE

Whether or not the non-inclusion by petitioner in her SALN of the vehicles owned by and registered in the name of her husband constitutes neglect of duty or is a mistake in good faith.

RULING

The Supreme Court GRANTED the petition, REVERSED and SET ASIDE the decision of the Court of Appeals, and DISMISSED the administrative charge against petitioner. The Court ruled that the requirement under Republic Act No. 6713 and similar laws for a government official to include the assets, liabilities, and net worth of their spouse in the SALN does not apply to spouses whose property regime, by law or by agreement prior to the marriage, is one of complete separation of property. The Court found that as Muslims, the property regime of petitioner and her husband is governed by Article 38 of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, which establishes a regime of complete separation of property in the absence of any contrary stipulation. Under this regime, each spouse exercises exclusive ownership and administration over their own property. The purpose of the SALN disclosure is to track the accumulation of wealth of a public official. Since the properties of the spouse under a regime of complete separation are not part of the filer’s own wealth and cannot be legally appropriated by the filer, requiring their disclosure would not serve the law’s purpose. The Court held that the lower courts erred in disregarding the legal implications of the marriage property regime simply because the SALN laws are silent on the matter.