PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. spoke before the 5th State Conference on the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) Implementation and Review in Malacañang last Tuesday and reiterated that the Philippines would remain a “proactive member of the global community” in fighting corruption.
He also said that the war against corruption is “far from over” due to gaps in implementation, evolving political climates, and systemic vulnerabilities in the bureaucracy.
“By learning from and working with other nations, we strengthen our anti-corruption mechanisms while reaffirming our place as a proactive member of the global community,” he added.
The UNCAC is an international anti-corruption treaty ratified, accepted, approved and acceded to by 180 countries. It aims to promote and strengthen State Parties’ measures to prevent and combat corruption more effectively and efficiently; to facilitate and support international cooperation and technical assistance in preventing and fighting corruption, including asset recovery; and to promote integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs and properties.
`A tall order, but one that must be tried in practice nevertheless.’
In 2014, Marcos said that the government institutionalized the Integrity Management Program (IMP), providing a clear anti-corruption framework. It served as a tool to enhance both individual and systems integrity across the bureaucracy. A decade into its execution, however, even the Chief Executive had to admit that the problem of corruption has persisted, characterizing it as “unexpectedly complex.”
The President said that his government employs a “two-pronged approach” in the fight against corruption — digitalization and people participation. He said streamlining and digitizing government processes would minimize the avenues of corruption as government transactions became more transparent and accessible to the public.
He stressed that the initiative was being undertaken through the New Government Procurement Act, which establishes standardized electronic bidding and payment systems through the enhanced Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.
To be fair, we note the government’s efforts to integrate data analytics with the procurement process to facilitate informed decision-making by procuring entities and the identification of suspicious, fraudulent, and non-competitive practices. The President said this will provide transparency and proactive government monitoring, thereby ensuring judicious government spending.
Marcos also emphasized empowering the people to participate in good governance through the electronic Freedom of Information platform.
“Through the electronic Freedom of Information platform, citizens now have avenues to exercise their right to vital government information. Our national budget, which is detailed to the project level, is published online, allowing our people to know how much and for what public funds are being spent on,” Marcos said.
While these technical and information technology-based solutions are in place, the reality is that this “war against corruption,” if it exists at all, is a hopelessly losing war. Even the head of the Office of the Ombudsman, which is mandated by law to fight official corruption, had to admit that systemic corruption exists even in his office and among his personnel. What we need is a sort of divine intervention to fight this menace, Ombudsman Samuel Martires once said.
President Bongbong Marcos recognizes the futility of fighting corruption in the government with just digitized procedures, laws and judicial sanctions. He said: “We must shift away from merely enforcing compliance with laws, rules and regulations, to steering our people towards the practice of integrity in their daily lives.”
A tall order, but one that must be tried in practice nevertheless.
