THE Philippine government is more driven to institutionalize good governance and continue walking the “tuwid na daan” (straight path). To achieve this, Presdent Benigno Aquino III vowed to strengthen and rationalize the government’s reform measures in weeding out corruption.
“We are working to rid the Philippines of the corruption that has tainted its reputation and plagued it for so long; we are working to institutionalize a legacy that finds its roots in the mindset of our countrymen, who will never again settle for anything less than true public service,” Aquino said during the 2nd State Conference on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) held in Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
The UNCAC represents the binding global agreement on corruption. It has elevated anti-corruption action to the international stage. Under UNCAC, signatories agreed to cooperate with one another in every aspect of the fight against corruption, including prevention, investigation, and the prosecution of offenders. Countries are bound by the Convention to undertake measures which will support the tracing, freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of corruption.
UNCAC points out corruption as one of the world’s biggest challenges, particularly in areas such as political parties, security, and justice systems. Because it remains notoriously difficult to investigate and prosecute, public institutions are encouraged to be more open about their work and officials must be more transparent in their decision-making.
For its part, the Philippine government will collaborate with the Supreme Court to help boost the country’s fight against corruption. Setting differences aside, both departments will work together to put more corrupt officials behind bars.
As an aggressive stance, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said that the judiciary will use an additional budgetary support as a means to combat corruption.
“Corruption, like poverty, is a multi-headed monster that we must slay once and for all,” Sereno said. “In the judiciary, we continue to push for the modernization of our courts and automation of our processes because we strongly believe that technology can be an effective anti-corruption tool as it minimizes the areas of human intervention.”
A transparent government allows information about its policies and its implementations to be accessible to the public. In turn, an informed public allows for a more dynamic participation in policy discussions and elections. More important than that, it allows us to keep the government in check.
While continuous efforts have been made against corruption, this plague still lingers, affecting billions of people around the world. The seriousness of this challenge affects every Filipino as it slowly but surely traces impacts on the country’s political and social well-being.Filipinos are encouraged to watch closely how this fight goes on. In the process, legal initiatives may be realized—and possible changes of laws that will have significant impression on development of the society.
This type of participation, as an audience, is an important way of exercising citizenship in the sense of finding a recognition of everyday concerns and to some degree, experiencing that these are shared by others. It is now time to turn pledges into actions. With greater accountability from the citizenry, a corruption-fee society can be a reality.
(AJPress)
