256 Volunteers Trained to Monitor Government Projects

30 August 2007 - The National Anti-Corruption Roadshows held in Iloilo City (23-26 July), Tuguegarao City (6-9 August), and Davao City (20-22 August) paved the way for the sharing of seven monitoring tools to about 256 participants.

Each participant enrolled to learn one tool from the following organizations: Ateneo’s G-Watch (Textbook Watch), Namfrel-Makati Business CLub (Medicine Watch), Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Governance (Road Watch), Procurement Watch, Inc. (Procurement Monitoring), Transparency and Accountability Network Operations Team (Lifestyle Check), Code-NGO (Pork Barrel Watch), and Social Weather Stations (Data Collection/Survey Techniques).

Corruption and CSR

2 October 2006—Gone are the days when corporate social responsibility meant donating to the company's favorite charity or being a donor to a cause not necessarily aligned with your core business. At the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility 2006 held on 25-26 September at the Crowne Plaza, Ortigas, CEOs and CSR practitioners gathered to brainstorm and discuss the changing face of social responsibility.

At the opening plenary session, Eugenia Duran-Apostol, 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, shared her insight into the increasing awareness for businesses to become sensitive to their host communities, and include a social dimension in business decisions.

“Corporate social responsibility flourishes when a healthy transparent relationship between the private sector and government exists.” This however, is at risk of “breaking down due to clandestine arrangements premised on expediency and personal gain.” This breakdown is also known as corruption.

In her speech, Apostol identifies 8 types of corruption in the Philippines, including tax evasion, ghost projects and payrolls, corruption in the award of contracts, nepotism, extortion and bribery. And the Philippines has no shortage in laws to combat corruption. Apostol reminded the private sector of media's support to fight corruption in the ranks of corporations and in government. Ramon del Rosario Jr., of Phinma and the Makati Business Club responded to the call by challenging media to be interested in the private sector's efforts and give as much attention to small successes over hype.

 Read Eugenia Duran Apostol’s speech >>

2006 RMAF Awardee Arvind Kejriwal meets Coalition Against Corruption

30 August 2006—Arvind Kejriwal, 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Emergent Leadership will join Coalition Against Corruption and the Makati Business Club in a Roundtable discussion on 30 August 2006 to discuss his experience in community-based anti-corruption initiatives.

Mr. Kejriwal came from the private sector as a mechanical engineer. His anti-corruption work began when he saw abuse of power as a tax officer of the Indian Revenue Service. He witnessed ordinary citizens paying bribes just to get basic services. In 1999 he founded a social movement called Parivartan or “change,” to make government transactions more transparent. The movement campaigned for putting an end to payment of bribes in settling electricity bills and citizen’s taxes.

The Parivartan prime tenet is that we all pay taxes. “Even a beggar who buys soap or a matchbox pays taxes in the form of sales tax or excise duty,” according to their website. When this money that belongs to the people is not paid for their welfare, government should be accountable.

Mr. Kejriwal is also known for challenging India’s right to information act, which gives every citizen the right to inspect government documents. Enacted in 2001, this law opened opportunities for ordinary citizens to participate in government projects. Parivartan put the law to test in Sundernagari, a New Delhi slum where residents led a “social audit” of 68 projects. In a public hearing, they disclosed misappropriations in 64 of the 68 projects. This taught local communities to monitor road projects block by block. Today, no project begins until all details of contracts are made public.

Arvind Kejriwal believes in making government systems transparent and promoting people participation in governance. This begins with giving people a basic anti-corruption tool: access to information.

Mangahas to present latest Business Survey on Corruption

Results of the most recent Business Survey on Corruption will be presented by Social Weather Stations with the Coalition Against Corruption and Makati Business Club on 6 July 2006, 12:00 noon at Ballroom 2, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati City. The survey is the 6 th in a series undertaken by the Transparent Accountable Governance Project supported by The Asia Foundation using resources from the Unites States Agency for International Development.

The survey measures corruption based on experiences and perceptions of business executives of small to large scale firms, covering five areas: Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro City and Davao City.

Among other things, survey results will reveal confidence in government agencies to curb corruption, public and private transactions prone to bribes, awareness of anti-corruption initiatives and areas for cooperation.

To get interactive discussion going, the event will be broadcast live via videoconference from Manila to Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

If you wish to attend, please fax the reply form to 751-1160 to 750-7405. For inquiries, call 751-1141 to 44 or email kathy.santos@mbc.com.ph.




City Level Workshops on Competitiveness

17 October 2005—“The twin goals of Mindanao development are anchored on economic equity and political parity,” said Dolores Corro, Coordinator of Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (Mincode) during the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) conference held in Cagayan de Oro City last 11 to 13 October. In her speech, she said that the promotion of transparent and accountable governance in the seven cities in Mindanao made them realize that indeed people’s involvement in achieving these national goals can go hand in hand through a tri-sectoral undertaking which involves the state, the private sector, and civil society groups.




Promoting TAG in Mindanao:
A Showcase of Tri-Sectoral Collaboration and Partnership for Peace and Development
By Dolores S. Corro
Coordinator,
Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks [MINCODE]

17 October 2005—“The twin goals of Mindanao development are anchored on economic equity and political parity,” said Dolores Corro, Coordinator of Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (Mincode) during the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) conference held in Cagayan de Oro City last 11 to 13 October. In her speech, she said that the promotion of transparent and accountable governance in the seven cities in Mindanao made them realize that indeed people’s involvement in achieving these national goals can go hand in hand through a tri-sectoral undertaking which involves the state, the private sector, and civil society groups.


Read full speech



16 Cities to Join TAG Conference
in Mindanao

7 October 2005—The Asia Foundation, the premier non-profit organization devoted to Asia's development since 1954, will host a three-day conference – from 11 to 13 October 2005 – titled “Enhancing Partnerships with Business and Civil Society Organizations towards Transparent Accountable Governance in Mindanao Cities,” at the Marco Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City. This is part of the USAID-funded “Transparent Accountable Governance” (TAG) project.

The conference will provide representatives from city governments, the business sector and civil society groups the opportunity to discuss the benefits of promoting transparency and accountability in city governance in Mindanao; agree on a common agenda that will complement the continuing corruption prevention reforms being undertaken at the 16 city governments in Mindanao; and distill lessons from the public-private partnerships. Dr. Steven Rood, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation, will attend the conference along with invited participants from the business and civil society sector and city government representatives from TAG’s 16 partner cities, namely: Cotabato, Dapitan, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Samal, Surigao, Butuan, Panabo, Dipolog, Ozamiz, Oroquieta, Zamboanga, Malaybalay, Tacurong, and Koronadal. Mr. Robert Wuertz, Chief of the Economic Development and Governance Office of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will be the keynote speaker of the conference.

Since 2002, The Asia Foundation, with support from USAID, has been implementing the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) Project. Centered on building capacity to restructure local government administration to increase efficiency, decrease the cost of doing business, and encourage investment, the TAG Project aims to deepen the engagement of business and civil society sectors in improving transparency and accountability in city governance and monitor reforms implemented by city governments.

The Foundation has been working with the League of Cities of the Philippines, the Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE) and the Mindanao Business Council to implement a corruption prevention agenda for the 16 cities with civil society and business sector involvement in monitoring reforms and results. The conference will provide participants with updates on the status of reform agenda of each city government and also provide civil society leaders and business sector representatives from each of the 16 cities the chance to share their experiences in promoting transparency and accountability in city governance.

Workshops will be conducted to discuss different initiatives, identify new ones, raise issues and concerns, and find solutions to address the identified issues. Through these exercises, stronger partnerships among local government, civil society, and business sectors will be forged.

    


Mindanao mayors sign
TAG covenant
By Veron Hitosis, League of Cities

15 June 2005—Sixteen of 27 city mayors in Mindanao convened on April 21-22, 2005 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel, Davao City and signed the Covenant of Commitment to Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) as the highlights of the two-day workshop organized by the League of Cities (LCP).

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Kwok Urges Businessmen to Strengthen Ethic Policy

18 May 2005—Mr. Tony Kwok, chief anti-corruption adviser to the Office of the President, encouraged the business sector to strengthen its own ethic policies within companies and to support the Office of the Ombudsman-European Union Corruption Prevention Project, including the proposed Tripartite Code of Conduct, Foreign Investors’ Assistance Desk, and Text Complaint Hotline, among others. Mr. Kwok’s work in the country will focus primarily on public procurement, public works, revenue collection, and 16 government agencies.

Mr. Kwok expects that these efforts will lead to ethic enhancement in all sectors; a level playing field for public procurement; a world class air cargo handling system in the new airport; greater attraction to foreign investment of the Philippines; strong coalition against corruption; and more corrupt to be punished.


Read Mr. Kwok’s full speech
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