Antidote for Philippine Corruption
Philippine Anti-Graft Institutions Exist, But Integrity Is Lacking
Mar 3, 2008
The Philippines’ anti-corruption institutions are only as good as the individuals who administer them, and integrity is the real problem. While development of honest citizens and public servants through values formation is the key to long-term victory, existing institutions must be employed for the short term.
Short Term: Demonstrate Crime Doesn’t Pay
Anti-corruption laws and agencies must be used to fight theft from the government. Public officials and private businessmen must be convinced, by increasing risks and decreasing benefits of dipping into public coffers, that such crime doesn’t pay.
Strict Accountability and Oversight
The Commission on Audit, responsible for financial accountability and legality of government operations, must diligently uncover corruption. Individuals of the highest integrity and fortitude must be positioned to expose graft at every level, and withstand pressure from individuals or syndicates trying to protect illicit dealings. The Office of the Ombudsman targeted graft-prone agencies based upon several criteria, and classified as graft-prone 9 of 19 Departments, plus 7 other national bureaus, boards, and administrations.[1]
Prosecution and Punishment
The Ombudsman, responsible for graft prosecution, must work closely with the Commission on Audit to investigate suspect officials and employees. Corrupt practices and corresponding terms of imprisonment are legislated, and the government must zealously prosecute and punish offenders. The Sandiganbayan, a special court with jurisdiction over civil and criminal graft cases, should grant leniency sparingly.
Restoring Stolen Assets
According to the Philippine National Police, public money lost to graft is usually not recovered.[2] However, anti-graft law provides for confiscation of unexplained wealth, and the Philippines must aggressively pursue recovery of public funds, whether within the country or funneled to North America, Europe, etc. Allowing offenders to keep their illicit gains sends the message that the benefits of corruption are worth the risk.
Long Term: Values Formation
The long-term solution to corruption is reforming socio-cultural norms by instilling new values. Conflict exists between traditional values relating to “obligation toward kinship, friendship, and primary groups”[3], common in the rural and tribal contexts, and values necessary for nation building. Values formation, or reformation, must engender a view of government posts as positions to serve, not personally profit. Citizens need to understand that motorists who bribe the traffic cop with 50 pesos, instead of taking the 500-peso ticket, are fostering graft.
Values Educational Program
The Aquino administration tasked the education ministry to develop values education, and the Values Educational Program was established in 1988 for public elementary schools. In 1989, values education expanded and became a daily subject for all four years of secondary education, and in 2002 the new "Makabayan (Love for the country)" program was introduced, integrating social studies and other subjects with values education.[4] Research indicates that Philippine youth educated under these programs place much higher value on honesty than did traditional culture.[5]
Values Reinforcement
The Civil Service Commission enforces a code of ethics, and undertakes anti-corruption “values orientation” workshops. The Ramos administration’s “Moral Recovery Program” called upon all sectors of society to reinforce values, and the media, church, and other culturally valued sources denounce corruption. Organizations such as Rotary Club, with its motto “Service Above Self” and four-point code of ethics posted in many Philippine towns, with the object of fostering “high ethical standards in business and profession”[6], serve to reinforce new values. The growth of evangelical and biblical Christianity is also impacting values reformation and reinforcement.[7, 8, 9]
Conclusion
The long-term remedy to corruption is being applied, as the first Filipinos to complete the entire values education program are now reaching their mid-20s, and hopefully entering professions and positions where they will begin to change society. However, metamorphosis will not occur overnight, and anti-corruption institutions must be used in the interim to continue rooting out influential, well-entrenched individuals and syndicates with big stakes in the culture of corruption.
References
1. “Graft and Corruption: the Philippine Experience,” Nelson Nogot Moratalla, Deputy Director/ Dean of Academics, Philippine National Police Academy, Philippine Public Safety College, 113th International Training Course Participants’ Papers, Resource Material Series No. 56, p. 513
2. Ibid., p. 513
3. Ibid., p. 502
4. “Making Dialogue among Different Religions: An Analysis of Values Education under the Integrated Learning Subject in the Philippines,” Hirofumi Nagahama, Research Associate, Kyushu University, Japan, pp. 1, 3
5. Ibid., pp. 7, 8
6. Rotary International website, accessed March 2, 2008
7. For example, the contribution of Fellowship of Christians in Government, Inc. is noted by Dr. Gopakumar Krishnan in his paper for 3rd Annual Conference of the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific, Tokyo 2001, “Increasing Information Access to Improve Political Accountability and Participation,” p. 4; and in “Modified Tax Compliance Verification Drive,” Republic of the Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue website, accessed March 3, 2008
8. “Evangelical/Pentecostal Solution to Gambling in the Philippines,” Conrado P. Lumahan, Sr., Journal of Asian Missions 4:1 (2002), pp. 121-140
9. Bible Readers Society of the Philippines website, accessed March 3, 2008
