THE Department of Finance (DOF), through its Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), has initiated 58 investigations against suspected erring officials and employees under its jurisdiction.
In a statement, the DOF said the investigations were conducted from July 2022, or since the start of the Marcos administration’s term, to September 30, 2023.
RIPS is the DOF’s anti-corruption arm created to conduct lifestyle checks, investigate allegations of graft and corrupt practices and file criminal and administrative complaints, as necessary, against officials and employees of the DOF, its bureaus and attached agencies.
As of end-September, it said 23 investigations have been conducted so far on certain employees of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), 23 on the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), six on the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), one on the Insurance Commission, one on the DOF, three on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and one on the Philippine Deposit Insurance Commission (PDIC).
It has filed five cases with the Civil Service Commission against employees of the BIR, BOC, and BLFG and six cases with the Office of the Ombudsman against employees of the BIR.
It said it has received eight favorable resolutions.
To further strengthen the fight against corruption, RIPS has established a Green Lane Committee with the BOC and BIR, made improvements to its existing monitoring system – the RIPS Alert System, and strengthened the capacity of its RIPS “Sumbong” website.
“Prudent fiscal management must be underpinned by transparency and accountability. As custodians of public resources, we cannot afford to leave any room for graft and corruption,” finance secretary Benjamin Diokno said.